Yet another Retread of Evangelion
by James L. King
Summary: Gendo actually cares about his son. Instead of traumatizing the children so that they can only bond with the mother's souls in the EVA, he decides, after losing Yui, that they will find another way. Thus, his scenario begins with trying to create bonds between the pilots to be.
1. Prologue and Sachiel gets sacked

Yet another Retread of Evangelion

##

09/18/2004

"Yui, are you sure you wish to go through with this?"

"I know the dangers Gendo. And I'm willing to make any sacrifice necessary to ensure mankind's survival." She caressed his face, and he smiled, grasping and kissing her hand.

"What if I'm not willing to make those sacrifices. Are you so blind to their intents you will play into SEELE's hands?"

She embraced her husband, "I am not blind to their intents, Gendo. My father made sure of that. Because of them half the world died. I will not see the rest perish to make them gods. No. I will see to it they perish like all other humans, and that humanity will live on. If I am lucky, I may have a few more years with you yet, my love."

##

"Plug depth stabilized at Ninety-one point-three percent. Pulse flow steady, harmonics stable."

"Initiating third contact."

Alarms blared, and the Pribnow box lit up red as Yui screamed.

"Plug depth at 180, no, 230, no, 300!"

"Abort the experiment!" demanded Gendo Ikari. He stood, his chair falling back as he pointed to the techs.

Power was cut to all but the internal visual feed, but it didn't matter. Yui, drawn into the Core, left her body behind, which as her soul left it, exploded into a darker splash of liquid biomass inside in the plug. Her clothes slowly drifted down to the bottom of the plug.

Gendo stared at the feed, watching as the darker liquid that had just been his wife, slowly mixed with the lighter colored LCL. He turned off the feed, forcing his lunch back down, and his expression to remain calm.

Three year old Shinji, sensing something was wrong, cried out for his mother. Gendo stared, his heart chilled. Instead of pushing his human side away, he embraced, it, picked up his son, and held him close. "It will be okay, Shinji," he said, his voice even but strained with emotion, "I will be okay. I am here for you."

Anger flashed in his eyes, and he bit out, "Doctor Akagi, Professor Fuyutsuki, there will be no more contact experiments. Contact Gehirn 3 in Germany and order a stop there as well. In addition, I want Doctor Sohryu and Doctor Makinami brought here to consolidate the research. We will find another way. I want to know what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how we can stop it if we do proceed with contact experiments in the future."

"Yes, Director." Fuyutsuki replied. His angular, slender face was a gray as his hair, and Gendo could tell he was on the verge of losing it.

He didn't express irritation at the slightly smug expression on the brunette scientist's face, although it made him very suspicious. "In addition, Doctor Akagi, I want you to initiate research on possible ways to salvage my wife's soul and reconstitute her body. For now, the plug will remain where it is, locked in with that core."

Dr. Naoko Akagi's jaw worked slightly, but she nodded, "I'll do as you ask."

A glimmering suspicion entered his mind, but he pushed it to the side. It could wait. He couldn't keep the quiver of grief from his voice as he turned and started away, "Very well. If you'll excuse me I need to see to my son."

##

Two weeks later,

"You are sure of this?" Gendo asked from under tented hands as Shinji played with some toys in the far corner of the well lit, spacious office.

"Absolutely," Professor Fuyutsuki replied, "After Doctor Sohryu discovered the sabotage to the systems, I and Doctor Makinami followed the evidence. It is incontrovertible. Doctor Akagi performed the sabotage. It would have been complete, but she got sloppy in her coverup."

"I see. And her attempts to salvage Yui?" Gendo's voice dropped half an octave, and Fuyutsuki saw the clear rage on his face.

Though the lighting did not diminish, the entire office seemed to go as dark as Gendo's mood, creating an air of intimidation around the widower. Fuyutsuki held his ground and replied, "A hollow effort from what we can tell. Ikari, I think it's time to admit she's gone."

"Yes. You are right. As much as my whole being says I must make her pay for what she has done, I will wait. The MAGI are one of the cornerstones of the plans for this project. I will wait until the MAGI are completed, then I will do to her what she did to Yui."

"Ikari..."

"She will never live, and yet, she will never die." Gendo drew a shuddering breath, forcing the rage down, and reasserting control.

His eyes snapped up after a moment, and he said, "Fuyutsuki, for the sake of my son, I will let go of my wife. For the sake of humanity, I will attempt to forge unbreakable bonds. I have a new plan, Professor."

"And it is?"

"SEELE wishes to create Third Impact—the Merging of Adam, and Lilith, here in the Geofront."

"Why? Why would they do so?"

"Immortality. Godhood."

"They're madmen."

"Yes, indeed. They attempted Instrumentality once before, four years ago. They will try again, but only after the Adam's offspring, the Angels, are destroyed. Then we are to use Evangelion to initiate Third Impact. I would seek to prevent it, but if I cannot prevent it, then rather than a pilot under their control, and subject to their whims, we will use our own pilots."

"Indeed, but will the pilots be under your control?"

Gendo shook his head with a smile. "No. They will not."

"Then how can you trust them?"

"Unbreakable bonds. To each other. And to humanity. There will be four pilots initially. There may be more, but that will depend on a variety of factors."

"Who are the pilots?"

"One has yet to be born, but you will be in charge of that." Gendo drew a folder from a drawer in his desk, and held them out.

"What do you mean?"

Fuyutsuki took the folder as Gendo continued, "I will require a child, a female, not born of humanity, but of Lilith, the mother of Humanity. She must also be human, so do whatever genetic splicing may be necessary. Name her Rei."

"Do you have a female template for me to start with?"

"Yes. Yui."

"But she's gone," Fuyutsuki said.

"It's all in that folder. After the complications of Shinji's birth, she had her eggs harvested. I will release some of them to you for for the cloning process."

"Ikari..."

"The remaining children will be Shinji Ikari, Asuka Sohryu, and Mari Makinami. There may be more, but if we guide them, and help them bond to each other, and to us, these four will remake the world in their image, not in the image of the Old Men. Thus, we will bring about a new beginning for Humanity, and deny the Old Men their godhood."

"So you're looking for a more innocent, kinder world?"

"A little. The Old Men scheme to end the world and make themselves into gods. I will scheme against them. I will do what I must, good or evil, to stop those monsters, even if I myself become a monster that my own son will have to do away with."

"I will leave you to your scheming, Director."

"Yes. Scheming. And taking care of my son."

Fuyutsuki caught a glimpse of a smile on Gendo's face as he walked to the penned off area, and began to play with his son.

##

08/22/2009

Shinji had just finished a test on his computer terminal, and turned it in to the professor electronically. He was already in college, mostly due to his father's attention and his natural aptitude for the sciences. He stretched and decided to take a short break and walk through a garden area in the Geofront.

He was on his way to the elevator when he saw his father round the corner and head toward him, a girl about his own age at his side.

"Shinji, I need a word with you." he said simply.

"Yes father?"

"I've adopted this young girl. She will be your new sister. Her name is Rei Ayanami."

Rei blinked and said nothing.

"She looks weird," Shinji blurted.

"That is why I took her in. She is a Pilot candidate. Just like you, Asuka, and Mari. She has no mother, father or friends."

"So, she doesn't have a mommy either?"

"No," Gendo replied, "But she has you now. And she has me. It is important that you love her and respect her. That you trust her and protect her."

Shinji didn't know what to think, but he nodded mechanically and said, "Yes father."

"Now, were you going to the gardens to take a break from studies?"

"Yes father."

"I have work to do. Would you take Rei with you, and teach her a few games? As hard as you study, you deserve to play. You are still a child after all, and it has been too long since you've had any playmates."

Shinji nodded, and took Rei by the hand, leading her to the elevator.

The father and scheming chessmaster watched his son and 'daughter' walk off before turning around, right into Naoko Akagi, who was openly glaring at him.

"What is it, Doctor Akagi. Is there a problem with the new MAGI personality transference system?"

"Who is that?"

"The daughter of an acquaintance who died recently. I took her in, not only to give her a home, but to provide a sister for Shinji."

He brushed past her as he continued, "It's not easy being an only child with only a father to look after you. This way, they can look after each other as well. I think it will be good for the both of them."

##

In the darkness of her office, Naoko Akagi glared at the terminal and slammed her fist into the desk beside her keyboard. "Rei Ayanami. There are no records of her. And she reminds me of someone. Of _her_."

She leaned back in her chair in a huff, continuing her quiet ranting in the empty room, "Damn that Gendo. What is he playing at? Is he working for or against SEELE? Does he think he can pull anything over on me? I'll show him."

##

03/13/2010

"...First I have to find the definition of happiness. It's been a while since I went out." Doctor Ritsuko Akagi said to her mother with a wry smile.

"Well, have a good one," Naoko replied, a pleased look on her face as her daughter started off.

"See you later," the younger Akagi said from the door.

Naoko Akagi turned away from her daughter's retreating back to the console on the command center. A few minutes had gone by, when she heard a noise, and turned to see Gendo Ikari standing in the shadows, almost as if a shadow himself.

"Director. What may I do for you?" she asked. She had no illusions about him. She'd tried to approach him, seduce him, but he'd always refused her advances. The man was dedicated to only two things. His continued research into his wife's work, and his son.

No, three things. His new adoptive daughter, the mysterious Rei Ayanami. The Rei Ayanami she's spent a week digging up nothing about. As if she didn't even exist. That and her resemblance to Yui made her very suspicious as to who or what she was.

"The time has come, Doctor Akagi."

"Come for what?"

He responded by raising his arm. The dark item in his hand emitted nothing more than a wheeze. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach and looked down to see a dart. She felt strangely numb, and with only the greatest of effort, pulled the dart from her stomach before all went dark.

##

She awoke, restrained, in a dark metal tube, one that as the internal lighting activated she recognized as an entry plug. She then realized she had been fitted into one of the plug suit prototypes, complete with air mask.

Gendo's voice came across the system, "A10 nerve connectors active, first connection cleared. Flooding plug with LCL."

"What are you doing, Director?" she muttered through the mask.

"I'm going to consign you to the same fate you forced upon Yui. Unlike her however, the core containing your soul will never be placed within an Evangelion, and you will live out your remaining days in that body either insane, or a vegetable."

"But, I had nothing to do with..."

Several displays opened and she was forced to look upon the evidence arrayed against her. Evidence she thought was destroyed.

"You killed the love of my life, and my son lost his mother. How can I forgive you?" he replied, his voice as cold as ice.

"Director, I demand you release me!" she yelled through the mask.

"Ionizing LCL, fixing plug depth. Partial restraints engaged. I need a body, alive or dead. You won't be fully absorbed by the Core."

"Damn you Ikari. WHY?"

"Why indeed? Jealousy is such an ugly thing. If you hadn't killed my Yui, I wouldn't be disposing of you on the eve of your triumph. Indeed we would have had a long working relationship. You could have taken some comfort from that."

"BASTARD!" she screamed, the mask nearly being forced off of her face.

"Second contact cleared, Synchronization set at one-hundred twenty percent. Initiating Third contact. Goodbye, Naoko."

She struggled for a few moments, fighting the constant downward pull, but soon lost consciousness as her very essence was dragged into the core.

Manning the Pribnow box alone, intimately familiar with the workings of the contact experiments, Gendo left it running for fifteen minutes, and then began the recovery process. After ensuring that she was properly cleansed of the LCL and redressed in her clothes, something he could not trust anyone else to do and not talk, he left the unconscious woman in the command center where he'd gotten her from.

He then deleted all records, and only left her console's lighting on.

The next morning, the maintenance and building crews found the unresponsive woman in the command center, slumped over her keyboard, and took her to the infirmary. The medical doctors were at a loss, having nothing to compare the total absence of activity in an otherwise healthy brain.

It was only after some reluctance she was declared a vegetable, and was consigned to a medical ward to live out her remaining days.

Deep in Terminal Dogma, on level EE, a new Core was hidden away, buried behind a new

reinforced wall.

##

06/10/2010

The three heads of Project E and the five Commanders of the various branches were meeting via holograph to report on all facets of EVA status and development. The space was empty save for the well lit single spaces currently occupied by the people in the meeting.

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi pushed up her glasses and tapped a pencil against her clipboard as she said, "Given we know the EVAs try to consume the living mind, we transplanted a hybrid copy of the three Magi here in Tokyo-3 into a fourth Magi that has only one purpose. To manufacture cores. Our first Magi Contact Experiments took place last month, and we were able to manufacture cores for four EVAs. We sent one each to Bethany and Germany. The other two are being integrated into the Test Type and Prototype."

"Doctor Makinami?"

"The new restraint system physically prevents contact between the entry plug and the core. However, we have encountered difficulty with preventing backflow and skyrocketing synchronization issues. NERV-5 does not have a MAGI system yet, and I have to rely on a low-capacity data feed."

"Branches 4 through 6 are expected to have MAGI components and installation within a month. Doctor Sohryu?" Gendo Ikari said.

"Don't worry Makinami. We've fixed those issues to an extent. It's a simple progressive synchronization filter. The higher the synch ratio goes, the more you have to push to make it go higher. The ratio reaches towards infinity at 100% synchronization. While a pilot can still theoretically achieve it, they will likely render themselves unconscious from the strain, and that would cause a Synch crash to 0."

"Deceptively simple, Sohryu. But the idea has merit. Maybe we can work out the remaining issues together after Bethany gets it's MAGI."

"Yes. Asuka would like a chance to see Mari."

"Commander Ben-Shiloh. Your report?"

"Here at Golgotha, the Dummy System is undergoing some difficulties, but if we could get a duplicate of your fourth MAGI computer in addition to the standard MAGI system, we can imprint the Dummies and the control systems much more easily and bring our chances of success up. We are exploring alternatives, but nothing that has as high a chance of success," the middle-aged Israeli replied.

"I see. Continue sharing data between yourselves, and ensure that enough cores are made for the remaining EVAs," Gendo said, "As far as the Dummy system is concerned, we will transmit the specifications for the Core MAGI system after Doctor Akagi runs simulations on dummy imprinting with it."

"Speaking of which, Supreme Commander, what of Pilots?" Commander Jacobson of Nerv-2 asked.

"The Marduk report has fourteen more potentials, but until construction of the remaining Evangelions is complete, we have no need for..."

"Evangelions three and four are nearing completion. Five, not even fully built, already has a pilot. Why can't Branch 2 have an on-duty pilot?"

"We at Bethany have the Third Angel contained and are always under level two alert. We have a Provisional Unit made up from a test body and cybernetic hardware, once we duplicate the Synchronization restraints, we can begin tests while Unit 05 is finished." Commander Ulyanov replied sharply.

From under steepled hands, the Supreme Commander said, "Commander Jacobson, given that the MAGI system you have can synchronize with an EVA enough for systems testing, and the fact that you are the branch that is performing the S2 Organ research, given the volatile nature of such testing, I am not willing to release pilots to you yet. Pilots are more valuable than EVAs."

"It is also why we have kept all the research decentralized and spread amongst the other branches, instead of performing it all here in Tokyo-3," Doctor Akagi replied. "Unless you see some reason that Angels would attack Nevada rather than here when we have the Second Angel and her siren call to lure them in."

"I see no reason to keep pilots away from us."

"Once testing of the S2 organs are complete and you are completely sure of their stability, then you will get pilots. After all, S2 organ equipped EVAs would be little more Angels themselves."

"Very well, Supreme Commander."

"We're on the verge of overcoming the greatest obstacle to Evangelion. The Pilot-Core interaction. The S2 project was always a minor concern to us here in Tokyo-3." Doctor Akagi replied simply.

"Ja, und in Berlin," Commander Sohryu said, "We will of course be glad when we do not need the extensive support infrastructure currently needed, but it is still of a minor concern. Where ever the Angels attack, is where we shall send the Evangelions. National lines and treaties be damned."

##

12/12/2013

Shinji Ikari and his step-sister Rei Ayanami stood in front of their father in his office. The windows were not polarized at the moment, allowing light to flood the room, lending a less intimidating air to the massive space. Still, Father was nothing if not intimidating all on his own Shinji decided, doing his best to maintain level eye contact with the elder Ikari.

"Do you know why I've called you here?" he asked, behind tented hands, his old thick-rimmed glasses reflecting some light at the children. Shinji was thankful that his father had decided not to wear the sunglasses. He looked scary with the sunglasses.

"No, Father, we don't," Rei said.

"In a few years, possibly as soon as next year, the Angels will appear and attempt to destroy us all. You have had the best educations money can buy, and like the other two Chosen pilots, have graduated college at your tender young ages. You are both performing your duties as pilots, both in simulated tests and in synchronization tests. I am proud to say you're doing well."

"Thank you Father," Shinji replied. The man stood, and walked around his desk to approach his children.

"Yet, something remains undone. Other than the staff here, each other, and emails to the other two pilots, you are isolated from the very world you will be saving. That will change. You are going to live on the surface, in Tokyo-3 itself. You will be attending school with children your own ages. Your status as EVA pilots and the fact you are college graduates already will be kept secret."

"Why?" Rei asked, her crimson eyes sparking in insatiable curiosity.

He pulled them both into a hug, something that embarrassed Shinji, but that he accepted as one of his father's quirks. "What good is it to save the world if you cannot live in it, appreciate it? You two need a bond with other people besides the staff here, myself and each other."

"Will you be living with us, Father?" Rei asked. Unseen to both children, Gendo smiled.

The man released them and turned, walking to and staring out the window at the Geofront, "No. I have transferred Captain Misato Katsuragi from Branch 3. She will be arriving within a week, and I will place you two in her charge. She will, for all intents and purposes, be your new guardian."

"But why?"

He glanced back, "She has an enthusiasm for living life to it's fullest. I will be too busy shortly to properly take care of you. She will be acting as a combination older sister and mother. She will teach you how to reach out to the world and grab it by the horns. She will teach you how to enjoy life. Something that I will even admit, I find hard to do."

For some reason, Shinji had the weirdest thought of a woman grabbing a miniature Unit One by it's horn and bear hugging the green and purple monster. He could hardly wait to meet this Captain Katsuragi.

##

12/19/2013

Misato Katsuragi really felt strange that she'd been issued a really, really, really large and apparently expensive apartment with half a dozen bedrooms, and that it had been paid for outright by the Commander of NERV himself. Then she'd found out that she was being appointed the Legal Guardian of his two children.

He would still be there as their father, but increasing responsibilities as Supreme Commander of NERV left him less and less time to spend with them.

The shy Shinji and slightly less shy, but somewhat odd Rei, had been assisted by Section Two agents in moving into the apartment. Then she found out that NERV had attached a stipend to her UN Paycheck for living expenses that she might incur from taking on the two children.

She had a suspicion that she was being given a surrogate family to reel in some of her more extreme tendencies, despite the Sub-Commander telling her that the children needed to overcome their shyness around others and that her psychological profile matched what they needed.

So, she was staring at the two children who were looking at the instant noodles as if it would bite them, and sipping rather than chugging her beer.

"Hey lighten up, kids" she said, "Would you like something different?"

"You made this and it's not right to waste food, but we're not used to such food," Rei replied bluntly.

"How about delivery? You two ever have Pizza?"

Shinji stayed quiet and tried to chew on some noodles while Rei replied, "It will not be necessary. We will eat this."

For perhaps the first time in her adult life, Misato felt inadequate to the task set before her. Still, she wasn't one to shy from anything, and would wrestle this challenge into submission like every other before it.

She knocked back the rest of her beer, and smiled as she slammed the can onto the table, causing the boy to jump with wide eyes as he looked up at her. Rei tilted her head and swallowed as Misato nodded and replied, "Well, I've lived on my own and on such food for years. Maybe it would do us all good if we learned how to really cook together and all take turns making dishes."

Both children looked happier at that comment. Maybe they already knew how to cook and would be teaching her. That would make things a little easier.

##

06/20/2015

"AT field detected—Pattern Blue! Fourth Angel Angel approaching! MAGI Designation, Sachiel," Shigeru Aoba called across the command center. Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuytsuki soon appeared from seemingly nowhere on the top level of the command center, away from the three JSSDF Generals.

Supreme Commander Ikari took off his glasses, slipped them inside his jacket, and withdrew a pair of prescription sunglasses. He placed them on his face, then pulled out the white gloves, knowing that now he was the 'evil' Gendo Ikari that made little children scream in terror. Well, children that weren't his.

He finished fitting the gloves to his hands as he sat down on his throne in the Command Center. It rather made his day when he could intimidate full grown men with a simple glare, he mused as the Generals were shouting orders for the UN forces to mount all out offensives against the target.

Fuyutsuki was issuing orders to have the two Evangelions prepped for combat, but laughing internally as Gendo had switched from 'Commander Dad' to 'Commander Devil'. Despite his misgivings across the years, he actually liked Gendo Ikari.

He was a man who had seen hell, lived through the loss of his beloved wife, and raised two children while plotting to stop what amounted the Iluminati of old while also trying to prevent mankind's extinction. Not every man could hope to pull a tenth of what Gendo had accomplished in their lives, and it seemed as if he was just warming up.

The two pilots were boarding one of the NERV emergency access elevators scattered throughout Tokyo-3. The rest of their School was boarding one of the primary subways, heading down to one of the Shelters.

Gendo Ikari smiled under his tented hands as the camera footage revealed his his children exiting near one of the Geofront's Rapid Access Train Terminals. They swiped their cards in the slots and waited, having been taught long ago the best way to get to HQ in a hurry. The MAGI delivered a maglev train to their location, one that was already programmed and set to bring them to the Headquarters primary transit hub.

"So far, no problems." he remarked to Fuyutsuki.

"Other than conventional weapons being useless. It has an AT field."

"Ahh. So, we were right. Only an EVA can stop them."

"We are sending two EVAS. Do you think we need two against it? After all it's displayed no more destructive capability than either one of our EVAs."

"Increasing our chances. If we overpower it without seemingly raising a finger, and at minimal cost, we will be battle proven, and the remaining governments that are balking at the costs will be devoting their resources to building their own EVAs. Of course, we will have to co-opt them in the end, or allow SEELE to co-opt them."

An angry shout came from the generals on the lower level as one slammed his fist on the console. A phone rang, and he swiped an access card, giving the order.

"They're going to use an N2 mine, I would presume." Fuyutsuki said.

"Indeed they will. But I wouldn't be surprised if it survives the blast. After all, nothing has damaged it yet."

"And at what cost? Billions of yen in collateral damage, two tank divisions, dozens of Aircraft , hundreds if not thousands of lives. They should have deployed us first." Fuyutsuki replied, calmly.

The door at the back of the command center opened, and two silent presences walked in, both taking up positions behind their father.

"Within a few minutes, we will be launch the EVAs. Go, suit up. Relevant data will be forwarded to to your PDAs. Use that teamwork you have long built. The Angel will give no quarter, and neither should you." Gendo said to the two children standing behind him. They both nod and start back toward the door they came from.

The screens in the command center blanked out and displayed static as the Generals cheered. One turned back and called, "Sorry, Gentlemen, looks like you won't be getting a turn."

"One might quote the old saying of chickens and hatching," Fuyutsuki muttered softly.

The door closed behind the children, and Gendo smiled, "The fate of Humanity rests on children while adult soldiers are useless. The irony of it."

"Sensors back online—high energy reading from the center of the crater! It's still on the move!"

"WHAT?" the three Generals shouted in unison, "That's impossible! It shrugged off an N2 Attack?"

"But it was a direct hit, right?"

The phone rang again, and the third General answered it. In hushed tones, the three men conferred, then called for him. Nerv Commander Gendo Ikari couldn't help but look calm and collected as he left his desk, went down two levels on the command center, and turned toward the three men.

"Commander Ikari, as of now, operational authority has been transferred to you."

"I see," he replied, the omnipresent semi-smirk that was his public face directed at the three Generals.

"We've seen that our weapons have no effect against the target. Are you sure you can beat it?"

Gendo inclined his head slightly, pushed up his sunglasses with a white-gloved hand and let his expression go to a full smirk as he replied, "It's what NERV was created for, Gentlemen. To defeat these Angels."

"Very well, Ikari. Don't betray our trust."

Gendo called out, "All NERV Personnel, go to Level One battle-stations. Prepare Units Zero and One. We move out in fifteen minutes."

##

Unmanned spy drones kept data feeds coming to the MAGI, which in turn sent the collated reports to the children's PDAs. Within a few minutes, both children had separated, and were getting into their plug suits.

Afterward, they walked toward the EVA cages while looking at the data, and quietly conversing back and forth. They then decided on a course of action, and requested the two closest egress points by the City's edge, then submitted a basic battle plan. They knew by the time they entered the EVAs and were moved to the launch pad that it would have been refined by real tactical experts, and then uploaded as the primary, but with half a dozen contingencies added in.

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi looked up at the two pilots entering the cages, both ready for their first battle.

"Nervous?" she asked.

"Y-yeah," Shinji replied, as Rei simply nodded. Rei liked being inside her EVA. She liked the feeling of LCL. She glanced over at her yellow and white EVA. The Armor wasn't combat rated yet, but a few weeks ago they gave it Shoulder Pylons like the rest of the EVA series.

"Good," a voice came from behind them, and they turned to see their Guardian, the Tactical Operations Commander, Captain Misato Katsuragi walking toward them, "Real combat always does that to you. What you need to learn to do is take that feeling, and master it. Let it sharpen your actions and responses. Let it work for you, rather than you work for it."

Shinji looked at Rei and the quiet anticipation on her face. Both knew the risks of her being deployed, which is why he had volunteered for the frontal attack. If it kept his little sister out of the line of fire, then he would take the world on without hesitation. The glowing yellow eyes of his purple and green EVA seemed to follow him as they always did, despite all sensors saying the monster could not, and did not, move on its own.

"Sun Tzu, the Art of War. If you know yourself and you know your enemy, you will never be imperiled in a thousand battles." Rei replied.

His attention snapped back to Misato, and he pushed the feelings of dread down.

"Very true. It has displayed two bone lances in it's arms that it charges with it's AT field, it has destroyed dozens of aircraft with an AT field blast from it's 'eyes'. It shrugged off an N2 mine like you or I would shrug off a balloon popping. At this point, if it's anything like the EVAs, be prepared for it to be able to regenerate itself if you damage it. You must go for the core. Destroy it, and it will die."

"Understood."

"Get in, and get ready. This is going to be one wild ride," the Tactical Operations Commander said.

##

"Okay, the plan is simple enough." Lieutenant Hyuga said, "Rei will keep her AT field down and attempt to flank the Angel and come up on it from behind while Shinji deploys his and engages the Angel head-on. When she reaches attack range, she will unfold her AT field and pin the Angel between two EVAs. They will then take turns engaging the Angel with their prog blades in order to disable it and get to the core.

"Pilot synch ratios are at 38% and 56% respectively. Harmonics normal, no irregularities. Units Zero and One are reporting all systems green." Lieutenant Ibuki called. Tactical displays showed the overall status of the two EVAs on side views of the main holographic display.

The main viewscreen switched to cameras that had a direct view of the launch pad exits and on the Angel.

Misato nodded and replied, "We are go for launch! Move the EVAs to the pad."

"Ready Rei?" Shinji asked softly through their two-way link as the Evas rode the platform to the launch hub.

"Yes, Shinji. I was born ready."

"I wish I had your confidence," he admitted, his voice shaky.

She smiled. Her big brother had more confidence than he knew. She also wasn't joking. She did know, thanks to what she still had to keep secret from Shinji, that this was indeed what she was born for. There were other clones exactly like her, despite everyone telling her that she was still unique.

"Launch paths cleared."

Both EVAs reached the surface at the same time, only a couple kilometers apart. Then, they were released. Shinji unfolded his AT field, keeping it between him and the Angel as he steadily closed. With a flick of a switch and a thought, the Progressive Knife popped out of a shoulder pylon and he drew it.

He charged the Angel at a jog, and shrugged off the blast attack from it's eyes as he closed to melee range. "Closing on Angel. Status Rei?"

The Angel deployed it's AT field, trying to break through Unit-01's as it lashed out with one arm's lance, then the other arm's lance.

"Ten seconds Shinji," she replied as Shinji countered the Angels' attack by rolling forward, and using his AT field to nullify the Angel's. He came out of the roll with a leap, sailing through the Air and tackling Sachiel in the midsection.

The two behemoths crashed into an invisible wall of force as Rei deployed her AT field and charged from behind. She then grabbed Sachiel from behind in a Full Nelson, pulling it's arms backward, leaving it's core exposed. Angel's AT field neutralized, Shinji slammed the Progressive Knife into the Core, but was blown backwards from another blast from Sachiel's eyes.

Status displays showed moderate armor damage to the chest-piece as Shinji recovered from the impact and stood up, a few hundred yards away from where he had been. What he saw was impressive, and definitely something his 'Little Sister' would do.

The Prog Knife hung out of the damaged Core, and Rei pulled the Angel up as she attempted to perform an AT field and Shoulder Pylon retro-rocket assisted jump. The two behemoths flipped backward, and Rei controlled the fall so that the Angel would be underneath her.

"Deploy your AT field to contain the Angel's death throes," Rei called.

They fell face-first, and the impact drove the Prog Knife all the way into the Core, splitting it. Sachiel stilled for an instant, then it's Core went, throwing Rei backward, despite her AT field suppressing and channeling the explosion harmlessly upwards. In mid-air, she pulsed the retro-rockets to come to a kneeling landing similar to so many comic book superheroes.

On the other side, Shinji had his AT field deployed, helping funnel the explosion upwards to prevent additional collateral damage.

After the blast cleared, and a fine LCL rain began to descend, both pilots gently walked their EVAs back to nearby lifts, and locked down on them to be retrieved.

Shinji and Rei both grinned widely at each other through the two-way Video Commlink.

"We did it Rei."

"Humanity lives to see another day."

"You two should be proud," Misato's voice cut in both cockpits, "Good job."

"Thank you Misato," Rei said as Shinji nodded and mumbled, "Thanks."

Misato cut the line and straightened up amidst the cheering from the crew.

##

Down in the Command Center, while the astounded JSSDF Generals looked on, the entire crew save the four ranking NERV Officers let out various cheers and whoops at the speed and efficiency of the whole operation.

Dr. Akagi looked relieved, Captain Katsuragi smiled and gave the two Pilots a customary 'Good Job' while Gendo smirked under his steepled hands and Fuyutsuki merely stood like a statue, despite the amused and proud gleam in his eyes.

"It has begun," Gendo said softly.

"Yes, it has." Fuyutsuki agreed.

"Now, it's only a matter of time."

##

Semi-inspired by Nobody Dies, and A Matter of Faith. And of course the Original Source material. If certain themes and ideas seem kinda familiar, that's why.

Again, change a couple things. Gendo actually cares about his son. Instead of traumatizing the children so that they can only bond with the mother's souls in the EVA, he decides, after losing Yui, that they will find another way. Thus, his scenario begins with trying to create bonds between the pilots to be.

He's still a monster who will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals, a scheming chessmaster seeking to outmaneuver SEELE, but now, he's truly a father, and if he isn't very expressive, he is empathic.

This also mixes up things from both the Prime and Rebuild timelines, and (if I actually bother to continue writing and get that far) will be reflected accordingly, such as merging Clock-iel and Matariel(both of which went down like chumps) into one more fearsome angel. In fact, since this time around we have 4 trained pilots to start with, and 4 functioning EVAs spread around the world, the Angels are also going to take a level in Badass. Sachiel taking an N2 mine and just walking off should already show this a bit.

Can't make it too easy. This is EVA after all. While traumas do exist, as they do in real life, everyone's mostly happy, and well, normal.


	2. Shame on Shamshel

Chapter 2

"Shinji! Rei!" a very angry Hikari Horaki said as they arrived back in their classroom, "Where have you two been?"

Shinji opened his mouth, but Rei interjected first, "Commander Ikari wanted to make sure that we were okay, so he sent for us to be brought to headquarters."

"You know our Dad. He's kind of protective of us." Shinji said, "Sorry Class Rep. It's why we both got text messages and were excused a couple minutes before the Special Alert went public."

"Why would he want to make sure you two were at Headquarters? Aren't the Shelters good enough?"

Rei and Shinji looked at each other and he shrugged. "You'd have to ask Dad," he replied. Even the feared Class Rep paused at that.

As they walked to their seats, two voices called, "Hey Shinji!"

"Hi Kensuke. Hi Touji."

"So, since you were at Headquarters, what was the alert about? Was it a monster like the rumors are saying? And there were giant robots fighting it, too! The Commander's your dad, so do you know who the pilots are?"

"Kensuke, man..." Touji started, "You're probably the only one who's excited about such a battle."

Shinji shook his head, and said, "I can't tell you anything, even if I did know. It would be classified. You're likely to get more information from your dad."

"But my dad doesn't tell me anything."

"Class come to order." Hikari snapped, and the room went silent as the teacher walked in.

The teacher adjusted his glasses and looked at the books in front of him, "Now, before that alert came up, I believe we were on page 102 of your math textbooks. So we don't keep your parents waiting this afternoon, I'll give you some self-study assignments for the Social and history classes."

##

"I will see you later Shinji," Rei said, then packed her bags and walked off with Hikari and a couple other girls from their class.

Shinji nodded and shouldered his bag, then followed Kensuke and Touji.

Kensuke turned on the TV receiver on his camcorder and adjusted the antenna as he tried to listen to the news reports.

He was rewarded with amateur footage of two robots engaging in a brawl with what could only be described as a monster.

"I can't believe someone was stupid enough to be outside during that," Touji said as they watched the yellow robot perform a rocket assisted backflip. "At least the two robot pilots seemed to know what they were doing."

Kemnsuke's eyes bugged out and he began to gush, "Wow, what is that yellow light both robots seemed to be using? It looks like it contained the explosion! Is it some kind of shield or force-field?"

"I... really don't know what it is," Shinji replied, "Just what it's called."

"Shinji, please, you've got to learn who the pilots are! I'd pay for autographs! The Commander is your dad! Surely he'd let you know!" Kensuke rattled off in sheer excitement.

"Kensuke, man, he might be Shinji's dad, but that doesn't mean he tells Shinji anything. After all, they don't live together, and when was the last time your Dad talked about classified stuff from the Labs?"

"The thing is, I know who pilots them. I know all four pilot names." Shinji mumbled as he blushed.

"REALLY? YOU DO?"

"The names are classified, but there's one for each completed Evangelion." Shinji paused and mentally kicked himself. Was the name 'Evangelion' classified? He was in trouble if they were. He cringed.

"Really? Do they have neat nicknames like Yellow Death and..."

"I don't know. I only know what I've been allowed to know. I might even be in trouble, deep trouble, because I said the name."

Kensuke paused for a moment, and Touji narrowed his eyes. "Kensuke, now do you understand? He let the name of the robots slip and he might get in trouble. That's why you should just leave well enough alone."

"I'm sorry. It's just so cool knowing we have two giant robots protecting our city. It's like something from an Anime!" Kensuke said, visibly calming down, despite his voice not calming in the least.

"Thanks Touji," Shinji remarked.

"Not a problem man. So, wanna go to the arcade?"

"What about the study assignments?" Shinji asked.

"What about 'em? I know I look like a typical jock, but Social studies and History are easy," Touji replied, "Fifteen minutes a piece and half an hour for the essay. I'll be done by bedtime easy."

"Man, some guys get all the luck," Kensuke grumbled, "Shinji gets good grades and knows stuff about NERV, you're good at sports and studies..."

Shinji and Touji both rolled their eyes. Shinji interjects, "Why not help Kensuke out and tutor him? Get him the good grades we get and maybe some good study habits too."

"And get his head out of that anime he's already making in his head about monsters and robots." Touji deadpans.

"And maybe some common sense while we're at it?" Shinji adds.

"Hey, that's pushing it a bit far." Kensuke complains.

Shinji and Touji both laugh, and Shinji says, "How about a study session at my apartment in an hour?"

"And see Misato? Of course I'll be there!" Touji starts like a lovestruck puppy.

"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she has to pull an all-nighter. Paperwork and all that."

##

Shinji walked into the apartment and heard distinctly female voices coming from the living room. He walked in and called, "Hey, I'm home!"

"Hey Shinji!" a girl called. She smiled at him and he raised his hand in greeting. He didn't know her name off-hand, although she seemed friendly enough. Hikari bit out a "Hi," and Rei acknowledged him with a nod.

"Umm, Touji and Kensuke are going to be coming over soon for a study session. We've been worried about Kensuke's grades so we're going to help him rather than hit the arcade."

"Oh, do you want us to join you," Hikari asked.

"Up to you. I was going to make dinner real quick, unless Rei's already taken care of it."

"I have not. However, Major Katsuragi and Commander Ikari had food delivered. It is in the kitchen," Rei answered.

"Is it enough for everyone?"

"Yes, it is adequate."

Shinji sighed and walked into the kitchen.

"Pizza and soba noodles?" he called, poking his head back out and giving his sister a consternating look, "I'll make something. Touji could eat all of that in there easily, if you haven't paid attention to lunchtime in the last year."

"Excuse me girls. I'm going to ask Shinji something real quick," Hikari said as she stood up and walked into the kitchen after Shinji, who had already put a pot of water on. She watched for a moment as he selected some vegetables from the refrigerator, then set them on the counter.

Then she watched him measure rice and water into a cooker, and said, "Shinji."

"Class rep."

"Do you want help?"

"You're a guest here. It wouldn't be right," he said as he started the rice cooker. He turned to the cutting board and began to chop the vegetables.

"I don't bite, you know. I was just worried about this afternoon."

Shinji looked over at her, an easy expression on his face, "You were upset because we weren't in the shelter with everyone else. Father wanted us in Headquarters, and I dare anyone to defy his orders."

Hikari smiled and half-sighed, as he continued, "It's almost a sure thing that every time one of those Special Emergencies come up that Rei and I will be called to Headquarters."

"Why would that be?"

"Whatever the reason, it's classified above my pay grade," Shinji joked.

Hikari caught it and smiled before she asked, "So, what was the Special Emergency about?"

"Kensuke picked up a news broadcast with some amateur video on it. Two giant robots fought and killed an A—a giant monster thing."

"You almost said something else. You know more than you're saying."

"And it's classified. I can't say. I'm already going to be in trouble if Section Two lets Dad know I slipped up already."

"Section Two?"

"NERV Internal Security. They have bodyguards around all ranking officers, and the pilots, and of course, Rei and I because we're the Commander's children."

"Oh. Are they watching now?"

"Yes. They're probably recording this whole conversation."

She blanched, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Hey, Hikari!" the other girl called, "Stop flirting with him!"

"Sorry Shinji. I gotta go."

"No worries."

##

Later that night, Shinji scratched his chest where he suffered a sympathetic injury during the battle. It looked and felt rather like a sunburn, and Doctor Akagi had been nice enough to put some burn cream on it.

He was waiting for Rei to finish with her bath and was flipping through channels on the TV. The big thing, even this many hours later, was the amateur footage of both EVAs battling the Angel. He finally found and settled on a subtitled Pre-Impact American movie, and just mindlessly watched it.

"Leeloo Dallas multi-pass," the orange-haired woman on the TV said, holding up an ID card, as Rei walked out, a towel around her.

"I am done Shinji. Be careful with your burn while you bathe."

"Hey Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Were you scared? You know, during the battle?"

"No." she said softly, looking at the floor, "I was scared after it. Of what could have gone wrong."

"I was frightened through the whole thing."

"We were both there, and we would not let each other get hurt, Shinji. Have faith in me, like I have faith in you."

"I do have faith in you. I just don't have that much in myself."

"You are stronger than you know. To assault the Angel without fear just to protect me."

"Yeah. I guess. You're my sister. I just don't want to see you hurt."

She smiled gently, and replied, "Take a bath. Rest. We can talk later."

Nodding to himself, he stood, then went to the bathroom. Rei disappeared into her bedroom.

He took a long time soaking, the water merely warm, to keep the burn from blistering.

##

The battle kept replaying through his head as it had all night. Rei had already gone to bed when he'd left the bath, but had cleaned up the kitchen and put the remaining food away, packing most of it into bentos for the both of them and Misato.

So, he went to bed. He closed his eyes, trying to get the images of the battle out of his head, all of the what-ifs he knew he shouldn't, but kept dwelling on.

The familiar presence of the EVA with him, the emotions beneath the surface. Feelings buried deep and only half remembered through a haze. His focus on protecting his sister from the Angel. The fact that his defeat would also mean her death and the destruction of humanity.

He'd tried to remember where he'd felt those feelings first, but it always evaded him.

Shinji was nearly asleep when he felt a weight settle onto his futon behind him. He already knew she didn't dream very often, and that nightmares were more rare. Nightmares were the only time she slept in his bed with him.

"Rei?" he asked.

"I think we need to keep the nightmares away, from each other," she replied simply, "I cannot sleep, and you being awake means the same, does it not?"

"Yeah."

"Shinji. May I hold you?"

"Yes, Rei. You may."

He allowed her to hug him from behind, and they slowly drifted off to sleep together.

##

Misato Katsuragi got home late, and dragged herself into the apartment. It was clean, and she rummaged through the fridge, finding some leftovers and three bentos already packed. She had off the next day, so she grabbed one of them and a beer.

Quietly, she ate, and downed the beer, then grabbed another to nurse while she took a long hot bath.

Some time later, after the heat had loosened up her taut muscles, she looked in on Shinji and Rei, and unsurprisingly, found them asleep together in his room. She was holding him from behind, both of her arms around his chest.

Despite how cute it actually looked, she knew it was harmless, a comforting thing that he allowed when Rei had her rare nightmares, but some part of her knew some day soon, she'd have to have 'The Talk' with both of them. They were teenagers, and of a dating age. They couldn't keep doing that any longer, even innocently.

Especially since, as far as she knew, that they weren't even related by blood.

##

Gendo Ikari pulled himself out of bed in the quarters he'd assigned himself in the Headquarters building. He mentally went over the day's plans. First, coffee. Second, check up on yesterday's paperwork and reports from Section Two on the pilots. Third, lunch. Fourth, more paperwork. Fifth, dinner with his children at their apartment, and sixth, bed. After of course, drinking Katsuragi under the table.

Yes, that was the fun part of those nights. Trying to out-drink the resident drunkard and having Section Two get him back to his quarters without him passing out or singing inappropriate songs.

He straightened the half-buttoned Hawaiian shirt and bright colored shorts that doubled as his pajamas. He debated shaving, but thought better of it as he pulled on well worn and ancient (dating from before Second Impact) sneakers.

Usually he could appropriate coffee from the lounge for his own use without being seen at all except by Section Two. There were a few times that he was caught by some random technician or another.

The plan for getting coffee this morning, and most others, meant literally breaking the mind of anyone who did see him. Thus the loud, bright, completely un-Gendo-Ikari-like attire. After all, no one, outside of Section Two Group One, that is, would _ever_ believe they saw 'Darth Gendo' in such clothes, meaning he could get the coffee and get out before anyone could recover.

He laid out his uniform on the bed to await his return.

##

That night, between sips of a beer, Gendo was finishing lecturing Shinji on his slip-up, even though he really didn't care much about the slip-up. He had to make sure that Shinji understood the dangers of being publicly known as an EVA pilot.

"...While Tokyo-Three is a company town, and all of your classmates parents work for NERV directly, the fact is NERV has some major enemies, and that your identities as pilots are to remain secret for now. This is for your own safety, Shinji."

"I know dad."

"The name Evangelion is not classified. Many Military Organizations around the world know of the project. Your classmates may eventually figure out that you and Rei are the pilots, but until that time comes, try to keep it a secret. Am I clear?"

"Yes father."

"Now, let's just enjoy this time together, shall we? After all, I need to see if I can still drink Major Katsuragi under the table, and make ridiculous drunken commentary on whatever movie you and Rei select for us to watch."

Even Shinji had to admit, at times like this, his father was flat out _weird_. He also wondered if such weirdness was genetic. If so, he was _screwed_.

Misato just shrugged as she finished her third beer. 'The Talk' could wait one more night, she mused.

##

Three weeks later.

While life had, for the most part, returned to normal, there were many who felt life had been shattered. Thousands had left Tokyo-3, leaving vacancies in apartment complexes and jobs.

Then there was Misato, who had sat both he and Rei down and gave them a talking to about sleeping together, sex, babies, and all that. Some of it he knew from school. Some of it—he was sure he'd need therapy afterwards.

He didn't tell either of the females what he suspected about Rei, about her literally being his sister, due to a distinct resemblance to pictures he'd found on the internet of his mother and the fact he found out through some judicious hacking that she'd had eggs harvested after his birth. How she was his age, he didn't know, but the fact his father was in command of one of the largest and most powerful research organizations in the world, he had a few guesses.

He was glad to have put the whole thing behind him, and get back to a relatively normal life. He still had synch tests, combat simulations, teamwork exercises run with the other two Children via remote MAGI links to their simulations, and direct simulated combat with the other EVA pilots, including Rei.

Yes, it had been a normal three weeks since the Angel attack, he mused, as he stood with a few classmates during recess, doing his best not to gawk openly at the girls, unlike some of the other guys. Without warning, his phone went off and he pulled it out and looked at it, then frowned. Rei also had her phone out, then looked up at him from across the track.

They both apologized, separated from their respective groups of friends and ran for the school entrance, where a dark sedan was waiting to take them to an Emergency Access building. Hikari, remembering what Shinji, and to a lesser extent Rei, had said, spurred the other class representatives into motion. By the time the special alert came across the school loudspeakers, most of the classes were ready to head to the shelters.

##

"AT Field detected, Pattern Blue! MAGI Designation, Shamshel!" Aoba called as the information appeared on the view-screen.

"All personnel, level One Battle-stations." Fuyutsuki ordered.

The main viewscreen showed the massive angel streaking past defenses and ignoring them.

Shinji and Rei arrived, got suited up and into their EVAs. Once again, Shinji was put on frontal assault and distract while Rei was to come up from behind and finish the job. It was a team dynamic that worked well in simulation, and in one other actual battle.

Shinji once again had pre-battle jitters, and Misato's advice was still ringing in his ears as the plug locked in place and was flooded with LCL.

"Just breath deeply, disconnect yourself from your feelings, and focus. Find your center, that place where you know peace, despite any firestorm that might be surrounding you."

"Find my peace," Shinji said as he meditated on the words.

By the time the EVAs had reached the launch pad, Shinji was calmed down and focusing on the battle ahead.

##

"...So, what is it you wanna talk about?" Touji asked Kensuke after they'd excused themselves to the bathroom and took up urinals next to each other.

"The battle up there! I've got to see it, at least once in my life!"

"Kensuke, man, I don't know."

"Nobody know when it'll happen again, or even if it'll happen again!"

"Are you serious?"

"Please, I just need help getting the gate unlocked."

"But you could get killed up there."

"Who's to say the shelter won't collapse? You heard some of the rumbling from the explosions."

"All the more reason why you should stay here."

"If I die, I want to see it firsthand at least. You can't tell me that if the risks were the same either way, you'd not want to see it too."

"Okay. You win. I just hope we won't end up regretting it."

##

Shinji switched the pallet rifle controls to three-round burst as he made it topside and unfolded his AT field.

The Angel slowed, and lowered most of its body vertically toward the ground, but kept its head level and its eyes focused on the point Unit-01 was emerging from the building.

He flowed from the building and fired a burst at the Angel, sidestepping to make himself both more of a target and harder to hit, in case this one also fired AT field blasts from its eyes.

##

Kensuke began filming as the purple Evangelion stepped from inside of a building, brought up its rifle and fired.

The thundering sound from a three-shot burst echoing up into the mountains was incredible, and if he had to guess, the pilot was firing high explosive anti-tank rounds from an Evangelion-sized assault rifle.

He saw the rounds hit and do _nothing_ as the monster retaliated by using its tentacle arms and sliced the building in half. The Evangelion rolled backwards and came to its feet again, firing another three-round burst. Then it started backing away as it fired another.

The head dropped, showing some sort of mask on the top of it, and the eyes flashed, striking the purple Evangelion with some sort of energy attack, driving the robot to the ground despite it blocking the blast with it's yellow force-field.

Then they saw the yellow Evangelion leap high into the air, a bladed staff or spear in it's hands, and it brought the weapon down upon the monster, cutting its body into two. With an inhuman shriek, the monster turned, caught the yellow Evangelion with it's tentacles and threw it into the air.

##

It lashed out toward him with its tentacles, neatly slicing the launch tower into pieces and he threw the EVA back, rolling to his feet a few blocks away. He let off another three-round burst, and then another as he began stepping away to lead the Angel off and keep its focus on him as Rei broke into a full run, progressive spear at the ready.

As it lowered it's head and the eyes in the mask flashed, striking his AT field with a powerful and staggering blast, Rei leaped into the air, and slammed into it from behind, splitting its body into two, but missing it's Core.

Shamshel screamed, for lack of a better description, and spun, lashing out, catching Unit 00, and flinging it high into the sky, ripping the cable from the umbilical, which then jettisoned from the EVA as she switched to internal power.

Shinji screamed "Rei!" as the Angel fired another blast and got Unit 01 back to it's feet, just in time to be bowled over by the Angel. With a thought, he released the umbilical and the EVA switched to internal batteries as he got back to his feet again and ran toward where Unit 00 had landed.

##

Unit 00 slammed into the hillside, and as Rei shook her head to clear it, she saw movement in her peripheral vision.

Identity tags appeared on her cockpit displays as she saw Touji and Kensuke cowering between two of the fingers on her EVA's left hand. She felt, rather than saw the Angel's next attack and reacted –raising her hands as she formed a flat AT Field Barrier, which barely deflected the Angel's blast.

"What? Shinji's classmates?" Misato asked in the Control Center, "What are they doing there?"

##

If asked their feelings at that moment, after they were finished screaming, both Touji and Kensuke probably would have admitted they had never been more scared, the massive four-foot-thick fingers of the Evangelion missing them by _inches_.

If they were also able to put together two coherent thoughts at the time, they both would have admitted they were very glad they had both just gone to the bathroom or, they would have literally wet themselves in fear—or worse, as the behemoth red monster fired a blast at them. The robot's hands flew up and a shimmering yellow force-field protected them, although they felt some of the heat and shock-wave of the blast pass through it and flatten them.

They looked up at the monster as it floated, no, flew towards them. The purple Evangelion reacted, attempting to intercept, but was rewarded by getting knocked flat on it's back. Halfway up the mountain the monster's body was whole again, and it no longer left a trail of blood.

It now loomed high overhead, and a massive purple blur plowed into it in mid-air, then pushed off, landing in a crouch over the yellow Evangelion as it sent the red monster crashing into the ground further up the mountain.

Then they heard a voice they both knew well, although it was heavily distorted. However, that fact would not immediately be conscious to them until a short while later.

"Leave my sister alone!" they heard as the purple Evangelion drew a blade from its shoulder pylon. The massive edge of the knife hung over them by only twenty feet as it dug in its feet and launched again at the red monster, retro-rockets firing and and the jet-wash pushing them both to the ground.

The ground trembled from the impact of the Evangelion hitting the monster, and neither boy thought. Their primitive flight responses took over, and both boys _ran_.

##

Shamshel approached and was almost on top of her as she saw Shinji charging again. He leaped, assisted by the retro-rockets and his AT field, and slammed into Shamshel before it could strike at her.

He pushed off in a back-flip, sending Shamshel hurtling into the ground farther up the mountain as he landed in a crouch over Unit 00. He drew his Progressive Knife and screamed, "Leave my sister alone!" not realizing he'd switched to the external loudspeakers.

He leaped again, once again boosted by the retro-rockets and unfolded his AT field to neutralize the Angel's. He tackled Shamshel by the head and pinned it beneath his EVA on the mountain ridge, and seeing the core, slammed his Progressive Knife into it as hard as he could.

Touji and Kensuke both got to their feet and ran toward the exit they'd used to get to the surface. Misato, however was already ahead of them, and had dispatched several Section Two agents to retrieve them so they could get a stern talking to.

Rei got Unit 00 to a stand as the two boys wisely ran away from her and the battle on the ridge above. She started to run toward Shinji, intent on assisting him.

He almost retched as he felt the writhing whip-like tentacles stab into his EVA, but grit his teeth and screamed as he reared back and punched the handle of the knife, driving it deeper into the Core, splitting it into two. Shamshel twitched and lay still, it's tentacles falling limp and sliding out of Unit 01.

He almost fell over, feeling weak. Unit 00 helped pull him up, and slowly, with three minutes of battery life remaining, made their way back down the hill into the City so they could be retrieved.

##

"Well, other than some creative landscaping on the mountain, that went as well as we could have hoped," Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki remarked to Captain Katsuragi.

She smiled, then replied, "I already have Section Two bringing those two boys here for a debrief and a few threats."

"Professionally, I know why it needs to be done. Personally, I think nearly being crushed by an EVA would get the point across," the old man replied.

"Never hurts to make sure they'll behave in the future. Just channel your inner Gendo and you'll have them scared until the end of time."

"Hmm. I take it you're going to check up on the pilots?"

"Yes. I am their legal guardian after all, and that makes me rather an adoptive mother."

Fuyutsuki smiled, "Right. You take care of the pilots, I'll go scare two little boys. Tell Rei and Shinji they both did well."

Misato grinned and went to the cages to check up on her wards.

Fuyutsuki left orders for Doctor Akagi to begin cleanup on the Angel, then orders to Section Two to bring the two boys to his office. By the time he arrived and sat down behind his desk, he had adopted the stern old professor, and waited for the two boys to arrive.

##

"Excellent use of the retro-rockets you two. They weren't meant to be used that way, but it makes sense if you need to boost your jumps to do more damage." Doctor Akagi said as she and Misato walked into the cages where both pilots accepted their towels with grateful bows.

"Thanks."

"So, you are now two for two on Angel kills. One assist and one final blow for each of you."

"Negative. Shinji would have dispatched this Angel without my help."

Shinji turned and hugged Rei, "Rei, I think you underestimate yourself. Without you being put in danger, I don't think it would have gone quite so easily. I only acted as aggressively as I did because you came so close to dying. Besides, you injured it first."

Misato smiled and said, "See, Rei, even Shinji knows that he wouldn't have been able to do this alone. And no matter what you may feel, you were not some 'damsel in distress'. Besides, it's the reverse of the last angel. He injured it, it knocked him down, but you killed it. You are a proven combat pilot. Don't doubt yourself."

"I do not doubt my abilities. I doubt that my part in the battle was truly necessary."

Shinji rolled his eyes as he released Rei from the hug and said, "I don't think we're going to win a battle with this angel, Misato."

Realizing the remark to be a joke, Rei swatted at Shinji as he danced back a step.

"And you are a devil like our father," Rei replied. Shinji grinned.

Misato stifled a laugh as Dr. Akagi raised her hand and applied her forehead with a groan.

##

Cowed, Touji and Kensuke both had to endure the stern sub-commander of NERV personally scolding them and telling them that they should be grateful that the Commander himself was out of town. Then they received a lecture from the Class Rep, then the School Principal, and finally a dressing down from their fathers after they had gotten to their respective homes.

Both boys ended up being grounded for nearly a week, and Shinji didn't see either outside of classes at school the whole time.

##

The next morning, Shinji, Rei, Misato, and Doctor Akagi were looking at a Remote link MAGI terminal that was displaying the analysis of the core samples after they had been removed from the angel's corpse.

"So, what does 601 mean?" Shinji asked.

"It's the systems code for cannot be analyzed. The mobile scanners aren't good enough for the job." Doctor Akagi replied, "We'll have to get the core samples to the lab so we can analyze them."

Shinji glanced over and saw his father and Fuyutsuki walk past. He stepped out after them and looked on as his father stopped in front of the fragmented section of core.

"So, this is the core sample?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Send half of it to Branch 2, and keep the other half in our labs. We need to keep SEELE happy, so we'll give them this token of our loyalty."

"Very well, Ikari." Fuyutsuki replied.

"Father?" Shinji asked as he walked up.

"Ahh, Shinji. You did a good job piloting. I am proud." Gendo said as he turned to face his son. A warm smile was on the man's face, "The results of this will advance our knowledge of both Angel and Evangelion significantly."

Shinji nodded, and the older man tousled his son's hair before walking off in the direction he'd come from. Gendo stopped in front of Rei and and hugged her, "You did very well, Rei. Don't doubt that you are needed, no matter what you think."

With that, he released Rei, and continued back out of the temporary shelter that had been erected over the Angels' remains.

##

Finally, a week and a half later, Shinji did manage to corner both Touji and Kensuke at school.

"Guys, what's up? You're acting like you've been avoiding me," he said softly as he blocked the entrance to the bathroom they had walked into.

"You heard we got in trouble right? We... just, don't wanna talk about it."

"Then don't talk about it. You're my friends. I trust you learned your lesson, and you can move on. I haven't hung out with you guys since then, and it gets boring not having you guys around."

"Thanks Shinji. I just—I have to ask, during the battle, I heard a voice, screaming for the monster to get away from his sister." Touji says, "Kensuke agrees with me. We think it's your voice. So, I gotta ask, are you the pilot of the purple one? Is Rei the pilot of the yellow one?"

Shinji half grinned and leaned against the doorjamb, "Since I know you can keep secrets already, I'll tell you. Yes. Rei and I are the pilots. We've been in training for the last five years. We both graduated college a year ago. School is more for socialization than it is actual learning for us."

Both guys stood there, shell-shocked and silent as Shinji continued, "My father told me that to save humanity, I would first have to appreciate it. Thanks to you two, I do. And I'll fight all the harder for it."

"I never knew," Kensuke said softly.

"That's the thing. No one is supposed to know. Now, it's not just my secret. It's our secret, and I can trust you to keep it, right?"

Neither boy disagreed. After all, they had earned the trust and friendship of the pilot of a 200 foot tall robot well before they even knew he was the pilot of it. Neither one wanted to betray that trust.

"So, Shinji, how much for your Autograph?" Kensuke asked. Shinji just threw his head back and laughed before he finally said, "For you Kensuke, the first one's free. Not sure what Rei will charge though."

"So, you guys wanna go to the Arcade today?' Touji asked.

"Sure. You in Kensuke?"

"Yeah, I am!"

##

Okay. Some people may take issue with the fact I use Touji instead of Toji. Both are legitimate Romanized spellings of the name. Pretty much it boils down to personal taste anyway.

As I said in the first, the Angels are going to take a level in badass, and Shamshel is no exception, although 2 on 1 with the EVAs makes it seem easier than it was for Shinji alone in either Prime or Rebuild. Indeed, if either EVA engaged alone it would not have gone well.

Final note: Just letting it be known that I only work on this when I'm dealing with writer's block on a real writing project, and I'm really not bothering with much in the way of C&C. Feel free to point anything out, but don't expect me to fix very much.


	3. Angle, er, Angel of Thunder!

Chapter 3

"I am pleased to hear this. With the Fourth Child finally able to synchronize with Unit 05, you no longer have need of the Provisional Unit." Gendo said, leaning back in his chair, directing a level gaze at both Doctor Makinami and Commander Ulyanov.

"No, we really no longer need it." Dr. Makinami said, "Do you want me to have it shipped to Tokyo-3?"

"Yes. We will use it for testing the Dummy System. I will arrange private transport if you can get it to Vladivostok. In sections or intact, it matters little. It will need to be refitted for testing once it arrives anyway."

"Very well. What do you want recorded as it's fate?" Commander Ulyanov asked.

"The truth, nothing more, nothing less. It was sent to Branch One for dummy plug testing as our facilities are more complete."

"Very well, Supreme Commander," Ulyanov replied.

"How goes the Core removal from the Third Angel?"

"Poorly. We've stripped it to the bone, and have it restrained, suppressed it's abilities with a modified dummy plug, but we have not made any progress on full core removal," Doctor Makinami said.

"The Committee wants that Core removed intact, for analysis. The whole S2 organ Program could well hinge on it."

"We will redouble our efforts," Doctor Makinami said, nodding.

"Very well. Keep me apprised. I answer to The Committee and they do not easily tolerate failure."

The holographic system shut off and Fuyutsuki asked, "Are we really going to use it for dummy testing?"

"No. We will be refitting it, but for live pilot use. The dummy system is the design of the Old Men, and while remaining seemingly loyal, we will be subverting it slowly."

"I see."

"I do not trust Doctor Makinami. Nor do I entirely trust either Sohryu."

"You don't trust anyone."

"I trust you. I trust Shinji and Rei..."

"That's a really short list."

"I don't trust Second and Fourth Children either. However, they may earn my trust if they prove loyal to Shinji and Rei."

"What if that is another gambit by Seele?"

"I already have plans in place to deal with it if it is an issue. "

##

A week later,

In the middle of the night, a massive barge arrived in the Tokyo-3 Harbor, what used to be Lake Ashinoko. The area was rapidly cordoned off by NERV Security. The Evangelion was lifted off of the barge by a massive pair of cranes, and gently set on an Evangelion catapult, where it was quickly retrieved.

At the same time, near Hawaii, the UN Naval Destroyer Reginald Barclay saw a huge octahedron slowly moving north-northwest. They tracked it at a distance, matching it's speed and course for a while, reporting it, and were then contacted by NERV, who requested a MAGI systems link to their sensors.

After analysis, the answer came back. Pattern Blue—Angel. The UN then diverted all nearby ships to the location to begin an assault at sea.

##

It was early morning when the Special Alert went live, and both Shinji and Rei bolted out of their bedrooms and into the hallway, nearly running into each other. Dressed only in their pajamas they looked at each other, then wordlessly went back into their rooms to get clothes on.

Misato also received the alert and got up, dressing as fast as she could, despite being hungover. She had to get to Headquarters, as did the children.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them tromped into the command center and made a beeline for the coffee machine. However they paused as they saw what was on the main view-screen. A dozen ships were burning and sinking while others performed evasive maneuvers to try to get away from the Angel.

The huge Octahedron shifted into an array of complex, interlocked geometric shapes and a beam the same color as the body lanced out from around the red Core in the center, smashing a destroyer, splitting it into two pieces. Then a second ship went down, then a third.

Fuyutsuki and Gendo both appeared on the topmost level of the command Center, silently settling into their usual positions while the early morning Command crew were busy giving battle reports. Gendo put a coffee pot from the lounge down on his desk, then pulled out two coasters and cups from a deep drawer before pouring a mug for both him and Fuyutsuki.

"UN Authorization had been given for a massed N2 ICBM MIRV attack launched from the Ohio Class Submarine Maryland, approximately six-hundred Nautical Miles away from the target."

"Given how well N2 weapons have performed against Angels so far, I doubt it will have any effect," Gendo muttered as he turned on the heating pad on his desk and sipped the bitter coffee. He looked at it, then pulled out a container that held sugar packets and artificial creamer.

Fuystsuki looked at Gendo adding sugar and cream to the coffee, and deciding that if it was _that_ bad, maybe he should spike it. "Single malt?" he asked softly as he produced a flask.

"Only if it's Yamazaki." Gendo replied just as quietly.

"Analysis complete. The Beam itself is not an AT field generated one like the last two Angels. The Angel's 'body' is a suspended high temperature plasma. Readings indicate the Angel is projecting an AT field that is keeping the plasma contained and at a temperature of nearly two million degrees Kelvin. What it is doing is manipulating the plasma into a particle beam!" the Technician in Lt. Aoba's position said in amazement, "This defies several laws of Physics."

"Even if they hit, the N2 attack would only make it stronger," the tech in Lt. Hyuga's spot said, "From what we know, the Angels themselves defy the laws of physics."

As if detecting the ICBMs high above, Ramiel shifted it's shape again, then fired a massive volley of bolts upward, followed by a second and a third.

Satellite footage showed the MIRV warheads being vaporized as the MAGI calculated that the Angel had lost two percent of it's body mass in the last attack.

"Given the nature of the Angel's body, hand to hand would not work. The EVAs would be destroyed trying to get near it." Fuytsuki said, taking a sip of the whiskey-spiked coffee.

"None of our weapons would work, except possibly the positron rifle," Misato pitched in. She gulped down half the cup, before realizing how bad the coffee was, and just barely managed to choke it down. She filled the rest of her coffee cup with cream and sugar.

"If the AT field is strong enough to contain high temperature plasma, then our positron rifle wouldn't so much as scratch it," Doctor Ritsuko Akagi said as she walked onto the command deck.

She retrieved a cup of coffee, sipped it, grimaced, added some cream, then walked to her position behind the primary bridge crew. She sipped it again, grimaced again, then walked back and added sugar.

"What about a sniper attack? From a position before it hits landfall?" Shinji suggested as he nursed the bitter coffee. He went back to the machine and added even more sugar to take the edge off of it. Unseen by him, his father was doing the exact same thing.

Fuyutsuki glanced at Gendo again, who merely offered some sugar packets to the older man as he looked up over his sunglasses.

"That may work, but we'd need time to build a rifle powerful enough, not to mention we'd need a lot of power to do so. The Angel will be making landfall in ten hours, and will be to Tokyo-3 in twelve."

"Not a lot of time," Misato mused, "The other Angels moved fast compared to this one. Why is it moving so slowly?"

"My guess it is could move faster if it shed it's plasma 'body'. As long as it keeps that plasma buffer around it, it needs to move slowly to prevent too much plasma leakage." Ritsuko said. She took another sip, and said, "Whoever brewed this batch of coffee is so fired."

"So, the bigger it is the slower it moves?"

"Yes. We've seen that it sheds mass to attack, but it's slowly getting larger again."

"Okay, people, let's get to planning." Misato said.

##

Misato settled back in a chair around the holographic map table.

"Based on data we received from the Naval battle the Angel has this range," Hyuga said, "Overlayed on the Tokyo-3 City Center, it will engage targets within this range actively, and defend itself out to this range."

The holographic table showed the engagement circles which covered the entire valley.

"So we're stuck in how to engage it."

"What do we know about it?"

"It's surrounded it's core with plasma it seems to generate from the air itself. It then focuses the plasma into bolts or beams which it guides with it's AT field."

"So, hand to hand is completely out."

"Not really," Shinji said.

Everyone looked at him strangely.

Shinji shrugged and laid out his plan, "Snipe it just as it enters the harbor. The plasma would evaporate water, and the steam would in turn disrupt some of the Angel's ability to generate plasma. Several successive shots with a weapon that can penetrate it's AT field would reduce the plasma to near zero, and if we don't land a hit on the core, but can keep it from regenerating the plasma, hand to hand becomes a viable option. Right? Then Rei can run in and knife the Core into pieces."

"That's so... Simple." Misato gasped in realization.

"Insane and stupid," Ritsuko countered. Shinji shrugged again. He was still just a kid, and not a tactical expert by any stretch of the imagination. It didn't stop him from trying.

"But simple! God, that should work!"

"Misato, what exactly are we going to snipe it with?"

"The JSSDF's prototype positron cannon. It's the only thing I can think of that has a chance to punch through the AT field. And positrons don't play well with electron-rich plasma. Even if it doesn't disrupt the AT field, the annihilation should screw up the containment something fierce, forcing the Angel to just dump plasma!"

"Okay, then what about the plasma? If it manages to get a shot off at Rei and vaporizes her what then?"

"What about a shield? Maybe something that's got the same ceramic tiles as the old US Space shuttle?"

"Okay, assuming we could get a re-entry tiled shield to deflect the plasma blasts, what about the AT field?"

"What about it? If We can put Unit-00 in the E-Type Resonance Armor, it'll boost her AT field immensely, helping disrupt the Angels' AT field. If it can't stabilize it's AT field, it can't generate much less contain plasma."

"The E-Type is too fragile. One solid tap and it will shatter like glass! Why not the F-type?"

"The F-type has too heavy a power draw and heats up too fast, and would slow the EVA down too much. She'll need to be mobile once the shield's discarded."

"Misato, there has to be another way."

"Maybe. Just run the simulations, while we try to make alternate plans."

##

"But, this is so... ridiculous."

"General, I understand your apprehension. But I have a Angel on approach to Tokyo-3 to kill, and if you check reports, it just wiped out most of the UN Pacific Fleet. Our positron cannon is nowhere near completion, nor would it be anywhere near the power we need."

"If it destroyed the Pacific Fleet, then what can stand against it?"

"The Evangelions can defeat it, but they need your cannon, General. Any technicians or specialists you can spare to work alongside ours would also be appreciated."

"So, this is rather a joint operation?"

"We appreciate your cooperation. We will try to return your cannon in as close to it's original condition as we can, given that it will be seeing use as a sniper platform. Have any personnel you can spare sent to Gotenba to meet with our technicians. They'll be merging your cannon with our power flow and targeting systems."

"Very well, Major."

"All right, kids, Take it away!" Misato called.

General Miyamoto saw two robots gently pry up the warehouse roof, and the purple one held it up as the yellow one very carefully picked up the cannon pieces. He was astounded by the scale of the Evangelions, then watched as the pieces of his positron cannon were placed on flatbed trailers for transit.

He knew if he ever saw it again, he would be lucky. He also knew that NERV would have duplicated it for use with their Evangelions.

##

"How many favors did you have to pull in to pull this off?"

"All of them and a few besides," Misato replied, "But they gave us the positron cannon."

"A twelve percent chance. Conditional at that."

"It's doable. And it's the best chance of success of all plans we came up with. Looks like Shinji scores one for the planning department."

"It's still insane. And stupid."

"Don't worry. With Unit 00 being fitted into the E-Type armor and carrying that shield, she should be okay. The armor does help resonate her AT field, which should disrupt the Angel's and cause the plasma beam to lose coherency and 'bloom'."

"I didn't know you had knowledge of particle physics. And besides, the G-type equipment has no such protections."

"Particle physics is easy, Rits. It's that evolutionary biology stuff that's hard," Misato replied with a smile, sticking her tongue out momentarily. She continued, "Shinji will have Rei between him and the Angel, not to mention a mountain. Even if the positron beam doesn't hit the Angel's core, it would destabilize the plasma and the Angel would have to dump a lot of it as it's AT field would be compromised."

"But that leaves several questions," Ritsuko asked, and before she could continue, Misato rattled off a series of questions.

"What will the angel do? How fast will it move with no plasma to shield it? How much damage will that much plasma do to the area around the Angel, what kind of magnetic field distortion will be present, can the MAGI calculate those distortions that so Shinji can hit the Core?" Misato paused, continuing to smile, "Shall I continue?"

Ritsuko quirked an eyebrow and then smiled herself, "Seems like you're also asking those questions. But if you have that kind of confidence in the children, then I suppose I could also have some faith."

"I'm staking the lives of everyone on the skills of two children who want to live and see tomorrow. They'll fight all the harder the more they're at a disadvantage. You've already seen this."

"So what are the pilots doing?"

"Shinji's on the live fire range in the Geofront, practicing with an actual sniper rifle, or four, it looks like, under guidance from one of our Section Two snipers. Rei's practicing blocking with a shield while wearing armor. The man who's working with her is an martial arts expert in four different arts, and in half a dozen weapon styles."

"Not hedging your bets on the children's training?"

"Well, they're been trained for years in various things. Shinji's always had the aptitude for firearms. Rei's got the best AT Field control and is very good in hand to hand. They're naturals in the roles their EVAs will perform."

##

"All right, Mr. Ikari, while you are firearms proficient, and have a good amount of training, more than some Militaries give their soldiers I might add, you don't have the specialized training that I and quite a few other do."

"I understand, Mister?"

"My name's not important."

"On the contrary. I'd like to be able to thank you by name when this is over."

"Definitely a trait your mom had. Liked knowing people's names. Both so she could thank or chew them out. You win. Hideki Tanigawa."

"Thank you, Tanigawa-sensei."

"I'm going to skip over a lot of what I learned. Instead you're going to learn only three things. Catching the brass as you eject casings while having a target still sighted, sights adjustment, and the actual art of making the shot. First, casings. A real sniper, especially one behind enemy lines, never leaves evidence. So, we catch our shell casings."

"Yes, Sensei."

"Now, all NERV Section two sniper rifles are common only in the ammunition we're issued. Otherwise, we're free to make our choice on our preferred type. What you're handling today is my favorite, a Sig-Sauer SSG 3000. I also have an American-made Desert Tactical Arms Stealth Recon Scout, and one of the other guys in the group has loaned his Brügger & Thomet APR, and also, there's an old M-24 that I pulled out of the weapons lockers. I will be training you on all four."

"O...kay?" Shinji replied, confused as he had no clue what the names that were rattled off were.

"First, ammunition. All NERV Section Two rifles use the same 7.62x51mm NATO round as a base. Manufactured in-house, combining the best technologies to ensure accuracy and stopping power, they are a Match Grade, 185 grain, Open-Air tip, rebated boat-tail bullet that has less than minute of angle variation in accuracy. This means that there is less than an inch of variance between all bullets fired from the same rifle under no-wind conditions at one-hundred yards distance. Muzzle velocity on my Sig is nearly 2900 feet per second. In two seconds, it will have traveled over a mile."

"That's pretty accurate, isn't it?" Shinji asked, still confused as to what any of that meant.

"Very. For a sniper, accuracy is all. One inaccurate shot, you're as good as dead."

"I can understand that."

"Now, for practice. I have several clips loaded with dummy cartridges for this part. This is why you wear a partial glove on your right hand. Without moving anything else, release the trigger, bring up your hand, pull the bolt back, catch the shell, slide the bolt back forward, chambering the next round, then place your hand back on the rest, finger on the trigger. Then take the next shot and repeat."

"Okay."

"The reason is you never leave evidence. That means no shell casings. You have five rounds in that rifle. And five targets. Do you want me to show you?"

"Yes."

The man handed him a stopwatch, loaded the rifle with a live magazine, then lay down, and after a few seconds, said, "Go."

Shinji started the stopwatch, and the sniper shot, chambered the next, catching the casing, and repeated this four more times. Shinji stopped the stopwatch as the man stood. "Well?"

"Eleven point four-five seconds."

"Sounds about right. You saw how I did that, right? The movements of my hand as I fired, then drew the bolt, caught the casing, chambered the next, and then placed my finger on the trigger and fired again, only moving to switch targets."

"Yes I did."

"Good. Again, I know you've not had the specialized training I've had, and you'll be slower and less efficient, but its forgivable in that I doubt you'll ever have need to fire such a weapon, and that this training may help you tonight in killing that Angel that's coming here."

"Yes, Sensei."

The man smiled slightly, loaded the dummy magazine, then gave the rifle to Shinji, who then lay down.

"Now, practice the motions. Sight the target, keeping your cheek against the rifle, the scope away from your eye so you don't give yourself a black eye from the recoil, fire, chamber the next round, catching the blank as you sight the next, fire, and repeat until you've fired all five blanks. I'll stopwatch you. Don't worry, I won't berate you for taking your time, especially since the motions will be unfamiliar for you."

Shinji began and it took nearly a minute to 'fire' all five blanks.

"That's about right for the first time. Keep practicing. Once you can get it down between twenty and thirty seconds for a magazine of five, we'll move on to live fire, and I'll teach you some about the control you need to actually hit your target."

"Thank you Sensei." Shinji said as he loaded another magazine, and another Section Two sniper walked up, his favored rifle slung behind him. "Hey, impressive lineup, Tanigawa. Think he would want to try my Howa?"

"Maybe." Tanigawa said as he reloaded the first dummy magazine with blanks. "Depends on him."

Shinji sighted and Tanigawa tapped the start on the stopwatch, and they both watched as Shinji struggled through the motions again.

"You're too tense, Pilot Ikari," the new sniper said, "Breathe out, relax. This is like trying to get a lover out of her clothes. If you're tense, it takes longer."

Shinji blushed.

"Well, that's a bad analogy, Hirasawa. It's more like trying a martial art you've never tried before. Just keep your muscles relaxed and flow with the movements while focusing on them."

"Yes, Sensei," Shinji said, still blushing at the other sniper's remark.

He continued to reload the magazines Shinji emptied with the blanks while he practiced the motions of catching the brass and firing at targets.

##

Shinji had gotten down to thirty seconds for the process, and the now small assemblage of snipers nodded and softly chatted amongst themselves. With time, the kid would be as good as any of them. After then, they taught him to adjust the sights to compensate for drop and wind, and then finally, after a short break for a snack, it came to the actual live-fire exercise.

Shinji snapped his attention to the target, adjusting his sights as Hirasawa, acting as a spotter, relayed wind and range. Tanigawa was saying, "Now, not that you need it in the Evangelion, but for a shot of this precision with just your body, I have to teach you this, or you will miss. A sniper that misses their shot is a dead sniper."

"I understand."

"You know breathing control, finding your center. Do it now. Be acutely aware of your breathing and heartbeat. Tell me when you're ready and aware."

It took a few moments, and the man waited as the whole team went silent. Years as a sniper and a spotter had given all of them long patience.

"Ready," Shinji said softly.

"Now, sight the target. You want to put the bullet into the target's head, but at this range the slightest deviation could make it a miss. So, when you're about to fire, hold your breath, and when your heart is at rest between beats, is when you fire. You're not leaving anything to chance."

After a few seconds, Shinji took the shot, and it missed. He could swear he saw the bullet and shockwave from it as it missed the cardboard target's head by centimeters.

"Congratulations, you're a dead sniper. Don't worry. Very few people hit their first time at this range. Try again."

##

"Good job, First Child. Do you feel ready to practice what you've learned in a less controlled environment?"

"Less controlled how?"

"You will be facing half a dozen men equipped with padded armor like yours, and armed with various practice weaponry. You will have a baton and will have to tag them out while deflecting or dodging blows."

"That is acceptable."

"Very well," the instructor said as several Section Two bodyguards came in and bowed.

"Begin."

Rei deflected a thrown javelin with the shield and ducked under another of her bodyguards thrust with a spear. She flowed, around, into and out of attacks, tagging the Section Two agents gently with a baton to 'kill' them and take them out of the fight as she engaged successive waves of them equipped with practice versions of weapons.

Her strength, speed, skill and grace astounded most of them despite her wearing the bulky, weighted, padded armor.

After a while, and the instructor had determined she had adequately grasped the concept, and congratulated her.

##

A floating holographic tag appeared above Gendo's desk, and he touched it, activating the room-wide projectors, and coming face to face with NERV Bethany's Commander and Doctor Makinami.

"What may I do for you?" he asked.

"We understand the Sixth Angel is on it's way. SEELE has approved the transfer of Unit Five to Tokyo-3 for combat duty. The Fourth Child should be arriving tonight around midnight your time."

Another tag appeared, and Gendo tapped it, seeing NERV-2's Commander and his wife, Doctor Sohryu. "Well, seems this meeting is already underway," Commander Sohryu said.

"Please, continue," Gendo said nodding at Commander Ulyanov.

"The Third Angel has been neutralized. It's core has been removed, and it is in stasis. The body has been destroyed. We will be sending the core to Branch 3 for testing."

"Very well. Commander Sohryu?"

"Unit Two and the Second Child have been released and are being sent to Tokyo-3 for Combat duty. She will be shipped by railway to Vladivostok, then carried by barge to Japan."

"With the destruction of most of the UN Pacific Fleet, there will be very few ships to guard her. Fit Unit-02 with the C-type equipment and the A-type extended Power Cells."

"Very well, Commander."

"Do the Doctors wish to go with their daughters?"

"I still have some research to perform here in Berlin. Asuka is a strong girl, and it will be good for her to learn to live on her own and have others her age to interact with. I do intend to follow after I wrap up a few things."

"Without the Third Angel here, I would wish to go with her and assist in work with the other Evangelions directly. However, I do concur with Doctor Sohryu. She needs to be around other people, not just her mother and NERV personnel."

"Very well, Doctor Makinami. If The Committee or SEELE approves the transfer you will be welcome here."

"Why, thank you Commander. I look forward to seeing you again." Makinami purred demurely.

Doctor Sohryu didn't bother to mask her disgust at the expression on Doctor Makinami's face. The Bethany duo went off the communication line, and both Sohryus sighed.

"Why, Ikari?" the Commander asked.

"Why not? Like the last time she was here, she is going to focus on her time on trying to seduce me. I will, however, arrange for distractions to keep her attention from me, from her daughter and the other pilots. Keeping her off balance will help keep SEELE off balance."

"Good. I don't want that bitch near my Asuka. It's a good thing her daughter's nothing like her."

"Oh, Ikari, I'm sending your friend back to you. Nominally as her bodyguard, being he's Section Two."

"Understood."

"Keep me apprised on Doctor Makinami. I can always engineer something to happen here that will require her 'expertise'."

"You are a devious woman, Doctor. It is no wonder Yui liked and respected you, even if she also hated you."

"She wasn't half as devious as her husband, but she and I value marital loyalty." She dropped a hand on her husband's shoulder, and he reached up and patted it.

"We'll see you with our regular reports next week, Commander."

"Very well."

##

That Midnight,

"...Districts one through eight-oh-three... primary power systems ready..."

"Initiate fourth stage connections," Misato said.

"...Voltage conversion nominal... secondary cooling systems at full capacity..."

Shinji was attempting to drown out the background chatter and focus on the horizon where the target was clearly visible, but out of his range. It was a waiting game, much as Tanigawa had said.

"...cannon voltage at point-three of critical. Point-two... Discharge systems nominal, capacitance at two-million Farads... Input Voltage stable... Positron prefire chamber at capacity..."

"Target is entering Ashinoko harbor," Shinji said calmly as the ranging indicators lit up with target lock, "I'm ready here, and the MAGI is trying to give me a firing solution."

"...reading a fluctuation from transformer eight-oh-six...

"You won't hit the core from that range." Doctor Akagi said.

"...Shut down the circuits! ...Voltage drop within acceptable limits..."

Shinji concentrated, lining the barrel up with the center, waiting for the lock-on sound.

"...Positron containment stable..."

"No, but we've already established that I need to disrupt it's body first. As long as I hit the Angel, whether I get the Core or not, it'll be forced to react," he called back.

The computer presented it's firing solution and the lock-on sounded.

Misato took a breath and said, "Very well. Engage at your discretion."

"New signal detected. It's Unit-05. She's requesting link-in to the Comm-Con battle network."

"Grant it," Misato said.

"Mari here. Am I missing the fun?"

"What is your ETA to the combat zone?" Misato asked.

"I've already initiated Synchrostart and am only awaiting your drop order. I will be in free-fall for two minutes. Unit-05 is in the S-type equipment."

"Deploy, but be warned, the battle may be over by the time you land." Gendo said, "The First and Third currently have things well in hand. Still, aerial backup may prove useful."

Shinji's eyebrow quirked, then he asked, "Are you ready Rei?"

"Yes, I am ready Shinji."

"Deploy your AT field. Once it starts to react I'll fire and disrupt it."

Shimmering lines of force appeared around her position by the harbor as she pushed her AT field out to it's maximum in a curved barrier between her and the Angel.

Ramiel shifted, a glow surrounding the Core as it charged it's attack. Just then, Shinji fired. The cannon's laser ionized the air into a plasma, electrodes discharged two-hundred thousand Megawatts of electricity into it, and the positron packet, within magnetic containment of it's own, was launched and rode the stream of electrified plasma to it's target. It crossed the distance in under a second, slamming into Ramiel, punching through the Angel's AT field and striking the body.

A new sun appeared a few thousand feet above the harbor as the sky lit up from the matter-antimatter annihilation. The Angel's sheath lost most of it's coherence and it vented plasma in all directions.

"Magnetic flux unstable. Compensation currently impossible," Ibuki called as Hyuga relayed, "Barrel cooling in progress, pilot is exchanging canisters. Cannon charge at eight percent and rising!"

Shinji pulled back on the bolt, ejecting the canister, and caught it, setting it to the side as he reached for the next and placed it into the cannon. He closed the chamber, making contact, and magnetic irises opened, allowing the positrons to flow out of containment in the canister to the prefire chamber of the cannon.

"Angel is reacting, pulling plasma back into itself," Aoba said.

"Angel is attacking Unit Zero!" Ibuki cried in panic. Outside, Ramiel launched a massive Plasma bolt at Rei, and she raised her shield as her AT Field flared.

##

**"I..."**

She deflected the bolt with the shield, angling it as she extended her AT field to assist. The bolt bounced off the shield and burst through a building, vaporizing it.

"Rei, are you okay?" She heard someone calling. She identified it. Shinji. He whom she called Brother. But was he? Who was she?

**"I... am..."**resonated in her head as she called out, "I am fine, Shinji." Who was this other within her?

Ramiel reshaped itself, then just before it could expend it's massed plasma body at her, another shot lanced out from the far mountain, penetrating Ramiel's AT field again, igniting the plasma, leaving the Core mostly exposed as the sky lit up for the second time that night. Then they all saw it. With no plasma sheathing the Angel, they saw it's body. Much smaller, but still octahedral in shape, and no larger than an Evangelion.

Ramiel drew back, gathered what little of it's plasma sheath it still could, then expended all of it's mass in a single concentrated beam directly at her. She could not deflect that, and brought the shield to simply block and absorb it.

**"I Am..."**

The duality of her nature struck her, and she reacted, mostly on instinct as the Other within called out again, **"I Am..."**

Just before the beam struck, she unfolded her AT field in a barrier before the shield. Despite it, most of the shield melted away, and as the attack stopped, she dropped the ruined shield and ran toward an armory building, her mind intent, he body focused, and her synchronization skyrocketing.

Through the heat surrounding her, the distortions of light as she dashed, her AT field extended as a full barrier around her, she glimpsed Ramiel and it's core, as it slowly drew in atmosphere and re-ignited it's body.

She deployed her AT field at full, eroding the Angel's completely, causing it to lose plasma containment again as she pulled a pallet rifle out.

She felt the plug ratchet backwards three clicks, which stabilized her synchronization. She felt annoyed, but it was of no concern. The Angel would fall before her. She shook her head to clear it again. She had to push against the Other, even as the Other tried to take control.

**"I Am..." **she said as she intertwined her own AT field with the EVA's, and began to place it around Ramiel, herding it back toward the harbor.

The Angel of Thunder reacted by lancing out with an AT field blast. It was simply absorbed by the combined AT field of Rei and Unit-00, and she raised her rifle, switching it to semi-automatic, and fired.

##

"Body confirmed on the Angel! The plasma is an outer sheath and barrier!"

"Doctor Akagi, I'm reading a feedback in Unit Zero. Rei's Synchronization score is starting to rise!"

"What?"

"It's at eighty percent and rising! Her Ego Border is intact, but it's creeping downward!"

"Force fix the plug depth at point six. That should stop her from going any deeper and risking mental trauma," Doctor Akagi called.

"The Angel expended most of it's plasma body in that last attack, but it's recharging!"

"Interesting. It seems the E-Type equipment has an unintended side-effect. Her Lilithian heritage is coming out and she is attempting to directly interface with the Evangelion." Gendo said softly to Fuyutsuki.

The old man nodded, "We'll have to run tests then."

"Unit Zero's AT field strength has doubled, no, tripled!" Ibuki shouted as Rei withdrew a pallet rifle from a building.

"No, she's reinforcing the Evangelion's AT field with her own. It's causing a resonance that is increasing it's strength dramatically," Akagi said, then looked up at Gendo, who merely grinned. Her look said it all.

_You knew this would happen_, she thought as she looked back at the screens and adjusted the MAGI's compensation program again for Shinji's cannon.

Ramiel fired a combination AT field blast and plasma bolt at Unit-00, who simply shrugged it off.

##

"The time between shots is too long," Shinji called out on the comm-link, "Can you cut the power levels of the rifle to ten percent? If I can fire every five seconds instead of every thirty..."

"How many Positron fuses do you have left?"

"Three!"

"At ten percent, it won't matter. The canisters could handle four or five shots at only ten percent. And if Rei can keep the Angel's AT field disrupted, then all Shinji needs to do is hit the Core. He'd only need one percent if that's the case."

"I will neutralize it's AT field," Rei called, her voice strangely distant, "**I Am...**" her voice resonated for an instant with an ancient power, "...placing my AT field in barrier sections to corral it while I direct it's path with fire from my pallet rifle. _Hurry._"

Several shots rained from above, and several meter long tungsten tipped depleted uranium spikes embedded themselves in nearby buildings and the asphalt as Ramiel managed to dodge them. Rei glanced up to see Unit-05 holding the prototype Rail Crossbow, taking aim again as the S-type equipment stabilized her flight.

"How many shots could he take at three percent?" Misato

"Probably eight per." Hyuga called. "Don't quote me though."

"Do it." Misato ordered, and everyone raced to comply.

Mari touched down, then jumped again, her jets modulating and making her hover a few hundred feet above the ground.

"They really need to fix the heat issue with the jets." Mari said, "I can't maintain more than ten seconds of flight at a time."

"Dropping power output to three percent." Hyuga said, his hands racing across his console.

"Cannon charged, Safety Interlocks will disengage in ten seconds, after barrel cooling is completed." Aoba called out.

"Firing!" Shinji called.

The beam lanced out and barely missed Ramiel as it began to evade his shots, Mari's crossbow spikes, and the 105mm HEAT rounds from Rei's rifle. Shinji checked the status, and fired again as the indicator read he was able to. He held his breath before every shot, measured his heartbeat, despite not needing to in the Evangelion, and watched the target, despite not hitting it with his next few shots.

Shinji saw the positron gauge at empty, ejected the canister, and put the next in, all by 'feel' as he was focused on his target. Then he saw how it was evading, and mentally calculated the Angel's next move.

"Mari, Rei, link your firing systems and try to synchronize your shots at it."

"Good plan, Shinji, Misato called, "Make it move where you want."

He fired, and the Angel dodged his beam at the last second, only to be struck by Rei's attack. He could almost feel the rage flowing from the Angel as the slug penetrated the Angel's body and the Core cracked. The Angel had shifted shapes to a seven pointed star and was only firing back blasts using it's AT field at her, and ignoring him, due to the distance. He fired again, and then a third time, watching how it evaded their combined fire with apparent ease, but building the knowledge so he could take the shot.

He glanced over at the indicator. One shot left on this canister. The indicator lit up, and he waited. Just as Rei fired volley, and Mari let off a Barrage he fired, right at the only place it could move to evade both other shots.

Ramiel dodged Rei's and Mari's attacks, only to run smack into Shinji's shot. It exploded, lighting up the sky for a third time. As the core vaporized and it sent off a cross-shaped explosion, Mari cut the jets and dropped from the sky.

"Good to see you, Mari," Rei replied, her voice oddly resonating. "If you don't mind, I need to leave my Evangelion. I am feeling... unwell."

She dropped her EVA to a kneel and powered down, ejecting the plug.

Up on Mount Futabo, Shinji took off the targeting helmet and exhaled the breath he had been holding.

"Thanks for the assist, Mari. Good job neutralizing it's AT field, Rei."

"Asuka's gonna be mad she missed this party. It was fun." Mari replied. "So, where's the nearest Lift? I need to help get Unit Zero locked on for retrieval, and get my Unit Five down to his new home too."

##

Dr. Akagi found the Commander alone in his office, his pen scratching kanji across some paperwork.

"Well, Doctor Akagi?" Gendo asked as she walked up to his desk.

"I think we found the problem with the E-type equipment. It channels the AT field very well, but since it's compositionally similar to an Eva's Core, it feeds back into the Core and the Pilot. Rei didn't suffer any mental contamination that we could find."

"What of the Third and Fourth?"

"Shinji is on his way back with Unit One, and the Fourth is with Rei, showering off the LCL."

"We will need to separate the pilots by gender soon. The Fifth and Sixth have been chosen."

She took the folder from his desk, and glanced at him after she reviewed it, "I see. Who is going to recruit them?"

"Who else? Fuyutsuki will be talking with the parents in the morning."

Does this have anything to do with what happened with the Fifth Angel?" she hazarded. He pushed the paper off to the side and grabbed another, and started reading it.

"Not exactly," he replied after a moment, "I'd made the decision during the Fourth Angel's attack. I just decided to push up the schedule by a few months."

"That's a load of bullshit."

"How well you know me, my dear Doctor Akagi," he said as he put the pen down and steepled his hands.

"Actually that's the thing. You don't let anyone know you. Except maybe Fuyutsuki," she retorted as she walked off.

Gendo grinned. At least the younger Akagi had learned what her mother hadn't. For that, he respected her, and trusted her. To an extent. He couldn't let her know everything.

"You know me better than you think, Doctor," he said softly.

##

So, we're getting into some equipment types for the EVAs. I'm listing something I have in my master reference and plotting document:

Equipment types: * by canon

*A-Type Battery Pack(unnamed as such but shown in the Anime)

*B-type Standard armor(Anime/Manga/Rebuild/Games)

C-type Underwater

*D-type Extreme environments(Anime)

E-type AT Field Resonance Armor

*F-type melee combat armor(PS2 Game)

*G-type Sniper(Rebuild)

*S-type Aerial(Rebuild)

It only makes sense that the battery packs would be some of the first things developed. Thus I've given it the A-type designation. In a related note, most documentation on Unit-02's Aerial equipment when it shows up in Rebuild, half of it says A-type, half says S-type. So, I'm going with S-type so the battery packs can be A-type.

C-type is the designation I'm giving the underwater kit.

The Resonance Armor is something of my own twisted mind. The armor itself is mostly crystalline, but resonates with a deployed AT field, boosting it's strength massively. However, there exists a small feedback flaw in which the AT field will affect a pilot's Ego border and synch rate, slowly eroding the former by boosting the latter. This is what awakens Rei's Lilithian side, and she deploys her own AT field in conjunction with Unit-00s, and further boosted by the Resonance Armor, intertwines them into an AT field of a strength never before seen.

I will probably never use the Resonance Armor again as they found the feedback error, and they'll deem it to dangerous to use. Especially on Unit-00 and Rei.

The F-type armor is part of a game, and several figurines are sold with the F-type armor kit, so in my opinion, it's as canon as the rest of the named equipment. I may end up having Unit-02 semi-permanently kitted in F-type once they eliminate the power drain issues in a later chapter.

On to Ramiel. God, what was Gainax/Anno thinking? The Angel of Thunder should be a total bad-ass and instead we have:

It Fires it's Lazor at Shinji, nearly killing him, then sits there and goes "IMMA FIRIN' MAH slow drill..." For twelve hours.

Yeah. For that whole plot point, lets all raise our collective hands and apply foreheads very vigorously.

Technically, with a body made of plasma, my version of Ramiel as it fires, would be using it's body to drill, but the effect would be more like what Zeruel does in TOS or in Rebuild

One shot to the Geofront. Regenerate plasma as it passes into the Geofront, and then kills the pyramid and blasts a hole halfway to Lilith. It heads on down, burning into the main shaft and descending to Dogma, and uniting with Lilith. Queue Third Impact and the end of this story.

So, they wouldn't have time unless I put some restraints on the Angel. First, they detected other Angels out at sea. Why not Ramiel? Second, I needed to slaughter most of the Pacific Fleet to force Unit-02 into the C-type for her trip. That way Gaghiel's defeat would also be much less contrived.

Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that, was I?

Cause and effect. I try hard to make sure that cause and effect line up, and that the characters dance to my Scenario. However, Gendo being who he is, may have a few surprises for me yet, despite my plans.


	4. Just another normal week at NERV

Chapter 4: A Human Work

Part 1: Just another normal week at NERV

Two days after Ramiel,

"So, Shinji, what's up?" Touji asked as Shinji walked into the Male Pilot's locker room.

"Hey guys. Not much."

"I can't believe we got chosen! This is gonna be so cool!"

"Well, first you guys are going to get training. And lots of synch tests, and lots of simulation training..."

"Wow, so we'll actually be in a simulation of an Evangelion?"

"Yeah, at first. The sims are always held in a live environment while synched with a test body. You'll start with the basics, plus learning AT field control and basic combat movement. Rei's taking that portion. Mari's going to cover hand to hand combat and grappling, and I'm going to be teaching firearms. When Asuka gets here you'll be learning melee weapons."

"Sounds pretty impressive."

"Wow, awesome!"

"I'm glad you want to be Rei's new chew-toy Kensuke. At least it saves my hide for a while."

"What do you mean chew-toy?"

Shinji shrugged, placed his belongings in his locker, except for a small case.

"You'll find out," he said, "As for me, I have to report to the range for qualifying."

He hefted a small black metal case that they saw him take out of his locker.

"You have a gun?"

"NERV standard issue. CZ-75b 9 millimeter pistol. Most NERV personnel have and are qualified on small arms. I'm a pilot, so I have to qualify regularly, as will you when the time comes. Of course, this thing feels underwhelming to the Sniper rifles I had a crash course with four days ago."

Kensuke's eyes went as wide as his glasses and he squeaked, "Sniper... Rifles?"

"We'll actually get to fire guns?" Touji asked.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Kensuke blurted.

"You might be issued pistols, yes. But, except in emergencies, they can't leave the Geofront due to Japan's gun control laws. If you're caught with a sidearm topside, then you're in trouble. NERV may revoke your weapon rights, piloting rights, you'll be subject to arrest, and charges will be pressed."

"So, the guns stay down here no matter what," Touji said, aiming a pointed look at Kensuke.

"Aww man."

"The guns have transponder chips that the MAGI track, so they'll know and the authorities notified if you do take them out of the Geofront. Besides, it's for your own safety. You'll have more than enough bodyguards to shield you topside, so why risk it?"

Touji asked, "Wait, bodyguards?"

"Wow, they really didn't tell you about Section Two? They must not have told you anything. I'm going to have to get you guys some new hire packets."

Kensuke shook his head as Touji said "No."

"Okay, Section Two is the Security and Intelligence Department of NERV. They and a very few select officers, like Misato, are the only NERV personnel licensed to carry weapons topside. No one else is—not even us Pilots. But, as Pilots, you'll have ten bodyguards each at all times when you're in public, following you on foot, in car, and the MAGI Supercomputers will have you under constant surveillance. Down here it's just MAGI surveillance. Most of the staff at the school outside of teachers and principle are Section Two agents."

"So I guess were important?"

"There's only six of us, yes. Anyway, I have to report to the range."

"So, any idea when we'll get to fire guns?"

"Our first trip to the range you probably won't shoot the guns you'll be given, instead you'll learn to field-strip them, clean them, load them, and get used to the feel of them. Don't even expect to actually fire them or have any ammunition issued the second time we visit the range."

"Got to learn to crawl before you can walk. Much less run. C'mon, Kensuke, we'll be late for our first synchronization tests." Touji grabbed Kensuke by the back of his plugsuit and dragged him out as he whined, "But... I wanna..."

##

"Okay boys," Ritsuko said, "Today we're going to do some synch tests with you. As you're aware from the data packets you've been sent, the Evangelions are thought controlled via the A-10 nerve connectors and a transparent ionized liquid we call LCL."

Okay," Touji said, as Kensuke nodded.

"LCL is chemically similar to blood, and is perfectly breathable. In a sense, it is the blood of the Evangelion. It is hyper-oxygenated and performs oxygen interchange within your lungs by itself. LCL also acts a shock absorber and and helps your link to the Evangelion."

"Flooding entry plugs. Locking Plug depth at point seven."

"Try exhaling your breath all at once, and breathing in as much as you can. This should make you less likely to want to throw up," Ritsuko said.

Both boys looked down at the sound of rushing liquid and saw the orange-red fluid rising in the plug as it covered their legs, then continued until they were totally submerged.

Both boys, with limited degrees of success, exhaled, then drew in breaths of liquid, and both immediately coughed and gurgled.

Ritsuko half giggled before saying, "The first time is always hardest. Have faith that the LCL won't drown you."

"Activating sub-vocal filters," Lt. Ibuki said, "Try speaking boys."

"Cn oo heer be?" Touji replied.

"Yes. Try forming the words more carefully while we tune the filters to work for you."

"Is 'is behter?"

"Yes, it is better. Okay. While we go through the pre-start checklist, try saying the words to 'Kimi Ga Yo' a few times. That will help train the filters so you will be easily understood."

Both boys began reciting the words to the Japanese National Anthem, while the techs working under the three controllers and Doctor Akagi began running through systems tests and pre-synch checklists.

##

The next morning,

Gendo sat in his spacious office in the twilight before dawn, his glasses on his desk before him as he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut as he held the phone receiver to his ear.

"So, I owe you once again," he said.

The voice on the other end replied, "You're not going to pay me back, are you? Speaking of which, the materials they demanded under the Freedom of Information Act, I handled it by giving them some falsified data. The Government is proceeding with Legal action, but that will be blocked any day now. So, should I do something about that project as well?"

"Judging by the material you sent me it appears that there will be no need," Gendo said after he sipped a cup of coffee.

"Then I'll proceed with the plan."

"Very well."

Gendo hung up, then looked at the holographic calendar and timepiece hovering above his desk. He dismissed each of them with a snap of his fingers, then grabbed air, and with careful movements that were tracked by sensors in his desk, opened a dataspace and loaded an encrypted file.

The whole system was still a prototype, and quirky at times. However, manipulating three-dimensional augmented reality projections was one of the few things he found fun about the job, he mused with a slight smile. He entered the changes on a holographic keyboard, ticked off a marker, and closed the file.

He downed the rest of the coffee and stifled a yawn as he shut off the holoprojectors in his desk. He needed to talk to Doctor Akagi, and given the day of week and time, mother and daughter would be together.

He stood and left his office, making his way down to the Infirmary.

##

"It's been over five years now, mother." Ritsuko Akagi said to the woman lying in the bed. "I think it's time I released you. You're never coming back. We've never seen as much as a single synapse firing in your brain."

Gendo Ikari stepped into the doorway, "I thought I'd find you here. Every week for the last five years you come here to talk to her."

"Commander, no treatment works. She's brain dead and has been since they found her. May I disconnect her?"

"Will you be able to handle the assignment to Tokyo in two days while dealing with the grief?"

"She's been dead, Commander. The grief is worse while her body is forced to stay alive. There is no cure for brain death."

A slight flash of regret passed over his face, then he nodded. "Then, five years... is enough time. You may release her. Goodbye Naoko. You've earned your rest."

She watched as he turned and walked away, then she shakily stood, and switched off the life-support equipment. As her mother's body stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest, Ritsuko pulled her into a hug, and cried.

Halfway across Tokyo-3, Shinji, logged into his school laptop and tapping out notes to the teacher's lecture, received a message from the MAGI. The message directed him to login to any secure terminal within Headquarters with the username and password he was being given.

He hastily wrote them on a scrap of paper, then deleted the mail per directions, and shoved the paper into his pocket.

##

At the end of classes, before he could leave the classroom, Hikari stopped him as everyone else filed out, "Shinji, do you know why Aida and Suzuhara have been absent? The teachers won't say anything, so it must be NERV related. Since you're the Commander's son, maybe you know."

"Umm, I can't say, Class Rep," he said as she held a sheaf of papers in her hand.

"Why can't you say?" she replied, placing her hands on her hips.

"Classified. If you want, I can stop by and give them their class assignments, but I can't say where they are or what they're doing." He held out his hand, and she placed them in his hand.

"Does it involve what happened last month?" she asked as he accepted the assignments.

"Kind of. Yes, but no," he replied, opening his bag and placing the papers within.

"So, they're going to be involved with the giant robots too?"

"Umm," Shinji started as he finished placing the papers in his bag.

Her sigh stopped him, and he looked up at her. Seeing she had his attention, she said, "I'm not stupid. I've figured out it's you and Rei who pilot them. Everyone in the class has. We've just kept quiet because we know you don't like to be the center of attention."

He nodded and replied, "I'm not sure how much to say, but if you can keep it to yourself, I will tell you."

"I will keep quiet."

"Okay then. They're the Fifth and Sixth Children. They're undergoing training in piloting. Tests, simulations, martial arts. Rei, Mari and I are handling the Training, and Asuka will also be helping when she arrives. The rest of us have had five years of training, and we all wrote, well, are writing the book on Evangelion Combat operations."

"There's already four of you? But only two robots."

"Nope, six total."

"Where are the rest?"

"The Fourth Child, Mari Illustrious Makinami, just arrived with Unit Five from Russia, the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu is on her way with Unit Two from Germany, and Units Three and Four are nearing completion in the USA. I don't know which one one will be assigned to who, but Touji's the Fifth, and Kensuke's the Sixth. Rei pilots Unit Zero, and I pilot Unit One."

"I see," she said looking down at the floor, clenching her fists.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

"A—are they going to the United States?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know or you can't say?"

"I don't know." he replied, then tilted his head and stared at her before saying, "If I knew better I'd think you were worried about them."

She blushed, and her concern suddenly 'clicked' with Shinji as she stammered, "I, no, it's just..."

"So, which one?" he asked.

"It's really that obvious?" She said as she looked up at him, her expression vulnerable for a second.

"It is right now that you feel backed into a corner and think you'll never see him again."

She dropped her head and closed her eyes, then whispered, "Touji."

He smiled and thought through all of his friend's habits, and hers. He hit on something almost immediately, and he grinned as he said, "Well, you know he buys lunch at school every day, right?"

"Yeah."

"And I always see you with a home-made bento."

"Are you saying I should make him lunch when he comes back to class?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him as he smiled. "It won't hurt. He's scared of you. It doesn't help you tend to beat on him and Kensuke a bit more often than anyone else since the Incident. Show him some affection and you should be able to attract his attention."

"Thanks, Shinji."

He smiled and waved at her as he jogged off.

##

"So, the two of you need to learn to move better," Mari said, as she struck a pose with her simulated Unit-05, "How're you going to handle an Angel that can vaporize you with a look if you can't handle me with a knife?"

Touji groaned, feeling the feedback into his body as he picked the simulation body up off the ground and managed to make it stand.

"Oww," Kensuke complained, but managed to get his simulated Unit-04 to an upright position.

A simulated Unit-01 appeared behind her, then got her into a Full-Nelson.

"Hey! No fair Shinji!" she said as she struggled helplessly.

"And how're you going to beat any Angels if you stand there and strike a pose so that you can be snuck up on? We all need work and training. Constantly," Shinji's voice came through the comm. Unit-01 released Unit-05 and took a step back.

"So, it's a challenge you want?"

"Just so they can watch and see what the EVAs are capable of."

Both pilots drew progressive knifes and waited out the others move with anticipation.

"So, is fighting about just standing there?"

"Touji, they're experts. The fight will be over once one of them moves." Kensuke said.

Both Evangelions fell down as they were hit with simulated positron blasts. Rei stood a few hundred feet away, smoke issuing from the barrel of the simulated Type 20 positron rifle. She quipped, "Never bring knives to a gunfight."

"I think I'm in love," Kensuke said, "Marry me, Rei!"

Her response was a positron blast to Unit-04's head.

"Oww," three voices moaned in synch. Rei put the rifle down, and it disappeared, "Let us be serious about the training. We have only a few weeks to cram all of our knowledge into their heads."

"Yeah, I know."

"They barely have basic movement down and you're picking a fight with them already Fourth? Go take Shinji and go level Tokyo-3 on another sim. I have to finish training them in basics and AT fields."

##

The next morning while Rei and Mari were continuing Kensuke's and Touji's training with some jujitsu, something they both were undertaking just for the chance to literally toss the boys around like ragdolls, Shinji sat down in front of a terminal in an unused office within Headquarters.

He pulled the slip of paper out of his wallet and tapped in the username and password. The Magi responded and he when he logged in he saw the clearance access – Yahweh. He'd never seen that level of access before. His father's he knew was Throne, supposedly the highest level, and his own was significantly lower.

He saw the terminal list off text, and glanced back as he heard the office's locks click shut, then he heard a female voice.

"Hello, Shinji." it said, and he looked back at the terminal. He recognized the face as being that of a comatose woman that had been on life support in the Infirmary for the last five years.

"I have secured the room you're in, and the Magi are feeding false data into the cameras and microphones for the location you're at. I'm starting these recordings as the Magi near completion as I don't exactly know how much longer SEELE or your father will keep me around."

Shinji leaned back.

"I am Naoko Akagi, current head of Project E. If you're logging into this, then I have died. I am giving you this backdoor access code to the Magi, and the information you need to stop Third Impact and humanity's demise."

He blinked as she continued, "I can only hope that you have not been corrupted by your father and would wish to bring about Third Impact."

"Third Impact? What is..." he asked, and the screen answered, "What is Third Impact you ask? It is an extinction level event that will destroy humanity. It can be triggered several ways. The Angels, Adam, Lilith, and the Evangelions. There is a group behind Gehirn, named SEELE. They are responsible for second Impact, when they fused human DNA with that of Adam at the South Pole."

She paused. "I don't know how much you've been told, but..."

##

The room's locks released, and Shinji's head reeled. SEELE, Gehirn, now called NERV, the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls, Adam, Lilith, the Evangelions. He set up a new user account with the same access level as the old Doctor Akagi's codes, meaning he now had two accounts with system access.

Plus, he'd set it so the Magi would not record files access to anything he pulled up with those codes. He pulled out his PDA and entered his new access into it, and got ready to confront his father.

He was allowed into his father's office by the secretary, a Section Two agent, and as soon as the door closed, he locked the room and disabled all surveillance with his PDA, and logged out.

"Shinji, what may I do for you?"

"Father, we need to talk."

"What about?"

"Third Impact, and your plans."

Gendo's mouth opened, then it closed as he studied his son.

"So, who told you?" he asked finally as he tapped a few buttons on his desk. Then he frowned. He glanced up at Shinji and exhaled, "Ahhh, I see."

"You see what?"

"It must have been Naoko. She must have higher level codes than mine. She gave them to you, and you've locked out this room completely so we could have privacy."

"I'd like to think I could trust my father, even with what I learned today. So, I want to know everything."

"And in turn?"

"I promise nothing, Father. I love you, but if you're half the monster she made you out to be..."

Gendo smiled darkly and admitted, "It takes a monster with a human heart to destroy a monster. I will do everything within my power to protect those I love, no matter how evil the act required. Whatever she told you, I am a monster, Shinji. Worse than she knew."

His smile faded, replaced by an angry expression, "I am the monster who will stop the Old Men of SEELE and their madness before it consumes Humanity. I am the monster who will force the Illuminati of old to their knees and destroy them. I will pay for my crimes, but not before I see a world free of such men."

"So, you stand against SEELE, not with them?"

"At first, I served them, but after your mother died, and then, when I finally realized what she always meant by her talk of the future, I knew I had to stop them. I made it my life's work to end their schemes."

"So, what is their scheme? What is yours?"

"Theirs is Third Impact. Instrumentality, becoming Demigods over a unified mass of Human souls. Adam Kadmon. The Primordial Man. Mine is stopping Third Impact, now and forever—while keeping the progenitor of Humanity, Lilith, safe."

"She said yours was also Third Impact."

"In some versions of my scenario, Third Impact is unavoidable. But know this, you and Rei are at the heart of all of those. If it is unavoidable, then you and Rei will have the privilege of rebuilding this world as you see fit, and restoring Humanity to life."

"So, she wasn't entirely right?"

Gendo stood and made his way around his desk toward Shinji, "She was not stable. She's the one who sabotaged your mother's contact experiment and killed her. She then tried for years to seduce me, but I ensured that would not work as I kept you with me."

Shinji was silent, staring at the floor, when Gendo grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, "Shinji, I want you to understand that I understand. No matter what comes, I'm entrusting all of humanity to you. It is all yours."

"What's all mine?"

"The Future, Shinji. It should not belong to some old men who fear death and would destroy Humanity to live forever as demigods over a mass of interlinked souls. Nor should it belong to the Angels, who would simply destroy all life to clear the way for their own kind. It doesn't even belong to a lonely widower who misses his beloved wife more than anything. You are my future. If we stop Instrumentality, we stop SEELE. If we can not, then you and Rei will be the ones who decide how this world will be remade."

He released his son, then walked back to his desk, "Unlock this room, and we'll go to the Chamber of Guf, and go to see Lilith."

"So, you're not worried about me having higher access codes than you?"

"Not at all. You will be replacing me as NERV's Commander some day, well, if that's what you wish. I even have plans in place if you don't want to control NERV. As for you having higher access than I, well, I can think of many ways that can be useful to my scenario. No, I need not ask you to relinquish it or give me the same level."

"So, you trust me?"

He rubbed his chin and looked up at the Tree of Sephiroth engraved on the ceiling. "Now, more so than ever. Starting now, today, I will trust you with everything. You can be the unseen thorn in SEELE's side. This actually opens up many possibilities. So, to ensure you still want to save this world, you need to know everything."

Father and son walked out of the office after Shinji re-enabled access. They walked to an elevator, and Gendo pressed several buttons, the swiped his access card. The elevator started down, moving faster than normal.

The counter clicked on until it reached EE, and stuck there for a good minute while the lift continued down, then it stopped. The doors opened, and Shinji stepped out into a massive cavern, large enough for two Evangelions to walk side by side.

"First you will see the mother of all earthly life. The Second Angel, Lilith."

##

Gendo swiped his access card, then keyed in a code, then scanned his hand print, then a voice print, then finally a retinal scan.

The massive doors parted, and slowly withdrew.

Heaven's Gate opened, and Shinji saw the marshmallow white Angel crucified within. Her entire lower half was missing, instead, a bubbling out mass of flesh with hundreds of legs sprouting from it replaced her own.

A stream of yellow liquid trickled down the cross and into a large pool. A pumping station nearby sent massive pipes upward, the words LCL Pump Station Alpha emblazoned on the side. Shinji blanched as he realized what LCL was.

"LCL is blood?"

"Yes, the blood of Lilith. She whom created all life. All of the Evangelions except Unit-01 were created from a sample of Adam. Unit-01 was created from Lilith. The part of Lilith that is missing I might add. Part of Rei's genetic makeup is also from Lilith."

"I... hear something," Shinji said, "Terrible and beautiful."

"It is The Song of Wisdom. She ate of the Tree of Wisdom, whereas Adam ate from the Tree of Life. His song would be the Song of Life. Both Songs are part of the Song of Creation."

"So, do the Angels sing the Song of Life too? Do we sing the Song of Wisdom?"

"In a sense. Our own AT fields resonate with that of our Progenitor. Sadly, the Children of Adam, the Angels, cannot co-exist with us."

"Is Lilith is what draws the Angels here?"

"Yes. If an Angel reaches Lilith, Then the AT fields of all beings will be sundered, and all Life will be destroyed as the Angels will create a world where only they exist."

"What is the AT field?"

"AT stands for Absolute Terror. It is the barrier that separates my consciousness from yours. It is what makes us unique and individual. Instrumentality is the breaking down of the Ego Barrier, the destruction of the AT field."

"I've seen all I need to see."

Gendo smiled, and said, "Well then, let us be off."

##

"It's a graveyard."

"Not quite. All of these are failed Evangelion prototypes. It is merely where we dumped them," Gendo said as he redirected the Lift and they passed by a massive chamber with hundreds of EVA sized skulls and spines all dumped into pits. Then, they passed back into Headquarters proper, leaving the sight behind, and the lift came to rest at Level AA.

The Elevator doors opened, and Gendo led Shinji down a short hallway.

"This is where Rei was born. She is only part human, and the rest of her genetic makeup is from Lilith. This room, the Chamber of Guf, the Room of Souls, is where she was created and born. She knows of this place."

"I already know Rei is really my half-sister. She looks like mom, and I do know that mom had eggs harvested after I was born."

Gendo opened a large door, and walked into a dimly lit room. He heard a giggle echo from ahead. Then a shriek of laughter, and a couple voices, all female.

"You are correct. Rei was created to pilot Evangelion. However, while she is not the only copy, she is the only one that was stable enough to leave here." Gendo turned on a light and Shinji saw a large room with medical equipment and lab equipment, and a large tube connected to machinery.

The tube held a small amount of LCL at the bottom, but Gendo ignored all of it as he walked to and opened another door. He walked into the next room, which was well lit, and Shinji followed, only to freeze in his tracks in the doorframe, his eyes wide. Gendo took his hand and led him in.

Inside were four girls. Save for their hairstyles, each looked almost identical to the rest, and to another face he knew all too well. They each were dressed simply in NERV uniforms, similar to Rei's.

Twin Ponytails and Wavy loose hair peeked at him from over two computer monitors, Braided Ponytail looked up from reading a book, and a Bun looked over from the TV, food on chopsticks suspended between her plate and her mouth.

"Hello girls," he said, "You're looking well today."

"Hello Daddy," they all said, "Who is this?"

"This is your brother. Shinji," he replied.

"Shinji!" they all cried in unison, "We've wanted to meet you for so long!"

"Um... hi?" he said, as the four adolescent girls jumped up from their locations and rushed forward to get a better look at him.

Gendo almost laughed, "They are all your sisters. Some have more Human DNA than others, some have more Lilith. Only one of them stabilized enough to be brought out. That is Rei. The others want to leave, but they can't. They know they're too fragile. Three others have been lost. I spend whatever time I can with them here."

"Umm..."

"I know it's a shock, but you deserve to know the whole truth. Besides, Yui didn't want you to be an only child. So, even if it's posthumously, I gave her daughters."

"So, what are they all named?" he asked as the girls drew back slightly, all smiling at him.

"Girls, line up for your brother. In order of age."

"Yes, Daddy," they chorused in eerily similar voices.

The four girls lined up, Wavy loose, Twin Tails, Braided ponytail and Bun in a line, giving Shinji identical, no, almost identical smiles. There were also slight differences in height and body mass. In time, he thought, he could probably identify them in ways other than hairstyles.

Gendo walked to Wavy loose and then turned to face Shinji as he said, "This is the eldest, Chiyoko. Next is Keiko. The third here is Izumi, and Yuki is the youngest."

"Hi," each breathed out as they were named.

Keiko asked, "Daddy, I'm feeling weak. I probably need to return to the tank. Can I give Shinji a hug first?"

"Yes, if he wants a hug."

"I don't think I can say no right now," Shinji said, then held out his arms.

Keiko hugged him, closing her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder for a few seconds. "I need to go regenerate now. Good night, Shinji. I hope you'll come visit us sometimes now that you know about us."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

"I'll help her get back," Yuki volunteered.

"Very well." Gendo replied as Shinji watched them walk off, the slightly taller girl leaning heavily on her younger sister.

"We've met before, Shinji. Not literally, like now, but I was in some of your classes when you were taking your college courses," Chiyoko said as she walked up to Shinji and took his hands in hers.

"Really? Wait, I remember. I remember you now. It makes sense now."

"What makes sense?"

"Why you were so interested in me and emailed me between classes. It's because it's closest you had to being able to contact me."

She smiled. Izumi bit her lower lip and clasped her hands in front of her.

Chiyoko noticed and said, "I'm monopolizing you, and Izumi wants to talk a little."

She hugged Shinji and gave him a peck on the cheek before walking over to Gendo and asking, "Daddy, when is Father coming down next?"

"I don't know when Kozo is coming down next."

"What about Mommy?"

"Mommy?" Shinji asked.

"Doctor Akagi should be down day after tomorrow." Gendo said, "Tomorrow she's going to Old Tokyo on business."

"Yeah, we're trying to get Mommy and Daddy together. Daddy doesn't want to though, and Mommy just says no," Izumi blurted, her eyes wide, and she bit her lower lip again and glanced away.

"So, you call Doctor Akagi 'Mommy'?" he asked as he sat down on the sofa in the room. Izumi sat next to him.

"Yeah. Mother is Lilith, and Mom is your Mom—Yui. Mommy's the one who helps us and tries to stabilize us so we can someday live with you and Rei."

"I take it you call Sub-Commander Fuytsuki 'Father' because he helped make you?"

"Yes, and Daddy's your Daddy. He spends some time every day down here. He says loneliness can be all consuming if you let it, and no one should be alone." She stared at her knees, keeping her hands clasped in her lap.

"I take it you all feel alone?"

"Yes. We have each other, and everything we could want down here, but we're alone in this world. We can't leave, and I want to see the sky and feel the sun, wind and rain on my face. I want to watch the sun set. Watch the clouds roll in as a storm gathers. And..."

"And?"

"...I want to kiss a boy." she says softly.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she leaned against him. Yuki returned and silently glided to the couch, and sat on his other side, then wrapped her arms around him, "I'm glad we finally met you, Shinji," she said, "We've always wanted to meet you, big brother."

"Is Keiko okay, Yuki?" Gendo asked.

"Yes, I got her into her tank. She's sleeping. I've been out for four hours and I'll need to regenerate myself soon. I just wanted spend a little time with my big brother beforehand."

##

After spending some time with his new-found sisters, he admitted his father had good reason to keep them there. But all four of them seemed so lonely and with such limited human contact had left them all very limited in their emotional range.

To his perception, they all seemed desperate for contact with other people. He'd hugged Rei before and been hugged in return, but with these girls, it seemed almost as if they were clinging to him more so than just hugging him.

"So, Yuki said she'd been out for four hours."

"Extended stays out of the tanks is a recent development. Only a month ago none of them except Chiyoko could stay out for over an hour."

"So, they could maybe go visit the Geofront?"

"Possible. I want to see how stable they become before making any promises. Trust me Shinji, I want all five of my daughters to live as normal a life as possible. At the moment, normal isn't possible."

"So, why did you create so many of them?"

"The original purpose was to have blanks, soulless shells that could be used for the Dummy system or as replacements for Rei. We gave them souls, and told the old men that proximity to Lilith is what did it. So, the original plans for the Dummy system were scrapped. Golgotha base has been redeveloping them. We're taking possession of a prototype shortly. If we know what it is exactly, we can subvert it completely."

"What's the Dummy system?"

"Take an empty half-Angel half-Human clone, place it into an Entry Plug, integrate it with the computer system, embed the digitized memories and personality from Rei into the computer and have it pilot the Evangelion. It's a horrific perversion."

"So, who's the new genetic template?"

"I don't know. Golgotha is only nominally under my control. SEELE runs that base directly. Bethany and Nevada are much the same way. Berlin is loyal to me, or so he says."

"You don't trust them?"

"Commander Sohryu is a good man. I'm not sure how far to trust him, but he seems focused on preventing Third Impact. Time will only tell."

##

Shinji lay on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The day's revelations, his father's true plans, the plans of SEELE.

He'd seen the Dead Sea Scrolls, in particular, the Scroll of War. Translated of course. He couldn't read the original language. What he saw chilled him. He saw the Angels, the 'Sons of Darkness'. He knew their names. He saw the battles he had fought.

More chillingly, he saw some of what was to come. To say he feared the future... _his future_... would be an understatement.

Now, he finally understood his father. What his father was working for. What everyone at NERV was working for, even if they didn't know.

But to him, now, it was a conscious choice. He would cast his lot in with his father and stand against SEELE.

After all, it was his duty as one of the 'Sons of Light'.

His bedroom door slid open and he glanced over to see Rei.

She stepped in and closed the door behind her, then sat down next to him on his bed.

"So, now you know," she said softly.

"Yes I do," he replied, "More than I wanted to know."

"But what you need to know to stop the extinction of our race."

He sat up, and she sat down on his bed next to him as he replied, "That and more. I'm going to have to make a habit of seeing our sisters as often as I can. At least I now have an idea of where you go when you say you're going out and you're alone."

"Yes, I do visit them. I try to every day. Not always easy however."

"I can imagine."

She smiled. "I have to live enough for all of them, at least until the day they can step out on the surface themselves."

##

Chiyoko is 'child of a thousand generations' in Japanese. A fitting name for the eldest of the girls kept in the Geofront. Keiko is the name of Chief Miles O'Brien's wife from Star Trek TNG/DS9. And since it's physically similar to both Kei and Kiko, it's also a nod to Gregg Landsman. Izumi, well, I like FMA. As for the last, it was totally intentional to name one of them after Yuki Nagato, when she herself is an expy of Rei.


	5. JetAlone! Sabotage!

Chapter 4: A Human Work

Part 2: Jet-Alone! Sabotage!

##

The next morning,

"It's hard to believe that this place used to be the flourishing capital known as Tokyo." Misato said as she stared out the window of the KBYEV-22 VTOL she and Ritsuko were flying in.

"We're here," Ritsuko said, her face buried in paperwork.

"Why are they having this in a place like this? Is the SSDF getting involved?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko harrumphed softly and replied, "The Strategic Self-Defense Force? No. They're not allowed to interfere."

"I see. That's why they can do whatever they like," Misato sighed.

##

"Thank you, thank you all for coming to this special demonstration of Japan Heavy Chemical and Industrial Cooperative's latest product," a man at the podium in a large conference hall said through a microphone. "In a few minutes we'll be taking you up to the control room to observe the actual demonstration. But first, we'll be answering some of your questions here."

"Yes," Ritsuko said, raising her hand.

"Ahh, the famous Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. It's our pleasure to have you here for this demonstration."

"Thank you, Mister Tokita. May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, certainly."

"The unit is equipped with an internal Nuclear Reactor. Is this correct?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard.

"Correct. This is our product's most distinguished feature, guaranteeing over a hundred and fifty days of continuous operating power."

"I see, but from a safety perspective, isn't it rather risky to incorporate a Nuclear Reactor in a land-based weapon designed for hand to hand combat?"

"We think it's more practical than a weapon that won't work for more than five minutes," he replied.

"But, in an emergency, there would be problems with remote control. Computers are easy to overload. If it were damaged, your weapon wouldn't work."

"But it's more humane than a system that induces tremendous mental stress and causes mental instability in the pilot. Pilots who are children, I might add."

"Cut it out, you're acting like children," Misato mumbled as she chewed on a straw.

"We've tried using adult pilots. They just don't work, yet. With your system, there's still an issue of manual control."

"I would think that it is much safer than an extremely dangerous weapon that injures it's own pilot with the damage it sustains. If the pilot loses their mind from mental stress and physical pain, then there's no control. A weapon that can't be controlled is insane, it's like a hysterical woman. Completely out of control."

Misato gritted her teeth while the whole room tittered. She clenched her fists and looked about ready to stand up as Ritsuko clapped a hand on her shoulder. Misato looked up to see her friend looking as cool and unflappable as ever.

She felt calmed down a little as Ritsuko countered with, "Our technologies already can limit the pain induction and reduce mental stress. The pilots themselves can also set the neural synchronization ratio, within the limiters allowed, further limiting pain and stress at no loss to combat efficiency."

"You're saying that Science and human courage will tame the savage EVA beast? Are you serious?"

"Yes, of course I'm serious."

"And because it depends on something as fragile as a child's heart, NERV has allowed the situation to get completely out of control. The UN has already had to approve an enormous supplement to your existing budget, and as a result, twenty-thousand people in a dozen countries are starving to death."

"Disposing of the remains of the Angels takes up more of our budget than even maintenance of the Evangelions at this point. You're right, we should let them lie there and rot, spreading God only knows what diseases. Skulls on poles to warn off the rest of them. How barbaric of you."

"Of course the actual cause of all this is still under investigation. Why don't you at least take responsibility for your handiwork. How fortunate that your organization is above the law."

"It doesn't matter what you say. The fact is, that NERV has the only weapon capable of defeating the enemy."

"You mean the AT field. That is simply a matter of time and research. NERV's day in the sun will not last forever."

Ritsuko sat down and smirked as he continued, "Now, if there are any more questions..."

##

"Hysterical woman! Smug sexist bastard. I want to bend him over backwards and shove his head up his own ass!" Misato snapped as she kicked a locker.

"Calm down. He's small fry. Not even worth getting worked up over," Ritsuko replied as she flicked her lighter on and smirked.

The folder with papers began to burn and she dropped it in a wastebucket and watched it, a slight giggle escaping her lips as she indulged her inner pyromaniac just a little.

"Oh yeah, totally fine there, Rits," Misato replied, hands on her hips as she glanced over her shoulder at Ritsuko.

"I'm not the one worked up about his comments. He'll be humiliated soon enough."

"What do you mean? Wait, has NERV done something to sabotage the robot?"

"Not NERV, no. The robot wouldn't stand a chance against an EVA, much less an Angel. They field it when an Angel attacks, it gets destroyed without so much as a pause on the Angel's part, then the EVAs engage the Angel in what the Americans call a 'Curb-stomp'. Thus we prove how much a of waste resources this really is."

"You sound awful confident."

"I have every reason to be."

##

"We are ready to begin the Jet-Alone activation test," a technician called.

"Don't worry folks, there's no risk at all. Please, make yourselves comfortable and watch through the observation window." Tokita called, "We're ready to begin, let's start the test."

Misato leaned back against the wall with Ritsuko, her hands on the binoculars she wore around her neck. The rest of the guests stood directly in front of the observation window, binoculars trained on a large hangar building.

Technician chatter began as the Hangar building split in two and slid apart. "Discharging the power core... ...Pressure levels nominal... ...Powerplant cooling system circulation normal... ...Releasing the control rods... ...Extending heatsinks from the torso..."

Massive rods slid out of robot and it's systems energized as a tech called, "Reactor coming online, power output normal."

"Begin walk cycle." Tokita said.

"Beginning walk cycle. Walking, forward ahead, slow," a technician said at the primary console. "Forward right leg... Roger... Balance is nominal. Power core status, nominal."

"Roger. Now, forward left leg. Keep her steady... Forward left leg, aye. Balance is nominal..."

"Oh boy, it's walking. That's certainly something to be proud of," Misato jeered as other members of the crowd called out praise.

A light went off as did an alarm on a console. "What's wrong?" Tokita asked.

"It's odd, the pressure in the reactor is increasing." a power technician called as his counterpart added, "The temperature of the primary coolant system is also rising."

"Valve open. Insert the Neutron Deceleration Fluid," Tokita ordered.

"No effect! The pump output isn't increasing! Initiating valve system check!"

"All right, emergency stop, cut off the power." Tokita said, "Activate safeties."

"Abort signal transmission confirmed... It's not accepting it! The radio circuit is being blocked! It's out of control!" a comm technician called.

"This can't be happening!" Tokita replied, transfixed as his creation stomped toward the dome.

"It's coming right at us!" someone screamed just before a massive foot came down into the room.

"This robot's as badly behaved as the idiots who built it!" Misato shouted as Jet-Alone stomped off in a straight line through the dome.

"The compression valve is operating irregularly! The control rods aren't working!" the second power system tech shouted as the first relayed, "Possibility of meltdown imminent!"

"Impossible. The Jet-alone's on-board computer system has been programmed to handle all possible contingencies and scenarios. This kind of thing simply can not happen!" Tokita said aloud, trying to rationally deny watching his pet project malfunctioning like it was.

"Well then you're about to have an impossible nuclear meltdown out there," Misato called with a hint of irony in her voice as she walked toward him.

"At present our only viable option is to wait for it to stop itself."

Misato snorted before replying, "How likely is that? Oh let me guess, less than one percent?"

"Zero point zero zero zero two percent. It would be an act of God!" a technician called.

"Acts of Men are better than Acts of God. Tell me how to stop that thing."

"We've already tried every possible option."

"Not yet. There has to be a last resort, a way to wipe out everything. Tell me the password."

"The password to delete all programming is top secret. I don't have the authority to release it. I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to tell you!"

"Then you'd better get the clearance bucko. DO IT!"

He picked up a phone and dialed out. After a moment, he said, "Tokita here, let me speak to Mr. Manda in Tokyo-2. That's right, the Director of Internal Affairs."

##

Nearly 10 minutes later, and almost as many calls, he nodded. "Very well."

"Bureaucracies," Misato growled.

He hung up the phone and said, "A written order has been sent. Once it arrives I'll give you the password."

"That'll take too long! Once the reactor red-lines it'll be too late!"

A technician tracking it's movement while still trying to send overrides to it called, "Movement vector verified, Jet-Alone is heading for Atsugi city."

Misato turned to face him, "Time's up. I'm invoking UN Special Order D-17. This operation is now under NERV's control."

"Misato!" Ritrsuko snapped as Tokita yelled, "Y-you can't do that!"

She pulled out her cell phone and as she dialed said, "Rits, the Commander and Vice Commander are out of the country, so that leaves me in charge. I can do something, so I will."

She jerked her thumb at Tokita, "If I do nothing, those people will die, and that makes me worse than he is."

The other end picked up and Misato asked, "Hyuga, what Evas and pilots do we have available right now?"

"Unit Zero is on hot standby. Unit Five is being refit for testing with F-Type and Unit One is in cooldown after a Core check."

"Then prep Unit Zero and load it on an aerial transport. Have the pilot link in communications to this facility once she's airborne. I'll be running the operation from here."

"Why?" he asked, his voice echoing slightly as he switched to speakerphone.

"The new Jet-Alone Robot is out of control. We need to stop it before it's reactor goes critical."

"What's the drop point?" He asked, as she heard typing, and muted talk from Aoba and Ibuki.

"We need to hotdrop it near Atsugi. And before you ask, yes, I'll give you telemetry data on the target as soon as I can link my PDA into tracking system here."

"What equipment loadout?"

"Time's of the essence. B-type should suffice," came her response.

"Okay."

"You can't do this," Tokita said as he stormed toward her.

She ignored him and held her PDA as she turned towards a technician, "I need tracking and telemetry data so we can drop an Evangelion to stop it."

"We can't let you damage it!" Tokita snapped.

She spun and pinned him with a glare, "Damage it, or kill two hundred twenty thousand people? You're the one who harped on twenty thousand starving around the world, and yet you're willing to let eleven times that number die when your robot goes critical? Hypocrite."

"Get this PDA linked in now," she snapped at the technician.

"Yes ma'am," he replied, taking her PDA. He smiled at seeing the brash military woman handing his superior's insults back at him, and got her PDA synched with their computers.

After verifying the link worked, he gave the device back to her, "All done, Ma'am."

"Thank you."

##

Rei sat in the entry plug of Unit-00, as Misato briefed her remotely as they approached the drop site.

"So, basically it's this, Jet-alone is out of control, not responding to commands, it's reactor's going to go critical and it's heading right for Atsugi."

"Understood. Initiating Unit Zero power up. Plug depth locked at point seven. A-10 Connection achieved, Synchronization holding at forty-six percent. Batteries fully charged."

She felt the transport dive, taking her to a safe drop height.

An indicator lit up and she said, "Unit Zero Synchrostart."

The Evangelion came to life, powered by the aircraft as it leveled off. Rei called, "This is the First Child. Thirty seconds to drop. I have initiated Synchrostart, and Unit Zero is active."

"Drop when ready. Try to restrain the robot and suppress the blast with your AT field. You have three minutes before it goes critical."

"Releasing locks," she called over the comm, and the EVA slid off the rails, and in doing so, switched to internal power.

Unit-00 fell only a few hundred feet as the transport banked away, it's right wingtip only meters off of the ground as it throttled up and circled upward. The Evangelion's retros fired and as she hit the ground, she ran for Jet-alone.

She leaped over it, twisting in mid-air, then braced herself and launched Unit-00 at Jet-Alone in a tackle, bear-hugging it to stop it in it's tracks.

"Power surge detected in Jet-Alone!" a technician called.

Unit-00 staggered a few steps back at the electrical discharge that flowed through her. Rei shrieked from pain momentarily, and it echoed through the command center. After a few seconds, she said, "Jet-Alone robot engaging me in combat. Maintaining defensive stance."

"Jet Alone armor has been polarized! Combat systems are engaging."

"What? No! Try to override them!"

They watch as four 150mm Cannons popped out of Jet-Alone's upper body and struck at Unit-00, which stood there as the HEAT rounds exploded harmlessly against it's armor. Smoke shrouded the Evangelion but cleared quickly as Rei commented, "That's it? That's all it's got? Charged armor and some cannons? This'll be easy. My trainees put up more of a fight learning how to move than this thing will."

Back at Headquarters, the Bridge crew and four pilots all laughed, and the sound of it came through the multi-way communications link.

Tokita turned red and demanded, "What? It's not supposed to be armed! Who the hell armed it?"

Ritsuko snorted, her voice acerbic, "Oh, look, it's going to fight Unit Zero. Well, not fight. More like... flail angrily."

"I don't know Sir!" a technician called, "We're still locked out of all systems!"

A female voice came through the speaker systems. "This is Unit Zero. Permission to engage Jet-Alone in combat?"

"NO! We can't risk the prototype!"

Ritsuko pitched in, "So now we come to it. You think by building this bomb on legs, you can do better than us and with less risk? I give your robot thirty seconds tops before Unit Zero takes it apart."

Misato ignored the protests and called, "Limited engagement only, disable, not destroy. Am I clear?"

"Confirmed Major. I will endeavor to do minimal damage."

"You can't do that!" he called as the EVA gave the robot a nasty uppercut.

"You're the ones with an out of control prototype. A weapon that can't be controlled is insane right?" Misato bit out, "And in case you forget, I've already invoked UN Authority, and in turn, NERV's. We'll stop _your toy_ and with minimal damage."

##

Rei smiled and ducked under the next cannon volley, closing to melee range, readying a punch.

She hit Jet-Alone with an uppercut, causing it to fly upward and back, where it slammed into the ground and skidded for a few hundred meters, leaving a long furrow of upturned earth as the rods on it's back snapped off.

She drew her Progressive Knife and changed her hold on it. The Other beckoned again, but she suppressed it even as her synch ratio climbed rapidly. It stood up, and she was already moving, feeling as if she were becoming one with her EVA, closing the distance before it could fully right itself. She two-stepped in, coming in low, then slashed the blade across it's chest, then rotated, bringing her foot up in a reverse spin-kick, driving it back as mechanical servos and it's gyro attempted to compensate.

She leaped in, aiming behind the staggered Robot for her landing. She hit the ground, and spun, sweeping the robot's feet as it clumsily attempted to turn towards Unit-00. It toppled to the ground, and she slammed the knife into Jet-Alone's head, causing the robot to shut down as part of it's computer system was compromised.

Jet-Alone twitched and lay still. Rei pulled the Progressive Knife out of the head, folded it back up and placed it back in the shoulder pylon as she called out on an open Comm channel, "Situation Normal. Jet-Alone neutralized with minimal damage. Readings indicate hard safeties have engaged and the reactor has shut down. Placing Unit Zero in standby mode, three minutes twenty-three seconds of battery remaining."

She dropped her EVA to a kneel and powered down everything but communications and life-support.

"Good job," Misato called, "Damage to Unit Zero?"

"It scratched my paint-job, nothing more. It was a weak opponent. I didn't even need to use my AT field."

##

"I don't believe it. Jet-Alone's a total failure. It didn't even faze your Evangelion." Tokita said. He slumped forward in his chair and buried his face in his hands.

"The EVAs are literally the only thing that can stop an Angel, and we field them in pairs as most Angels are more powerful than any single Evangelion." Doctor Akagi said, her arms crossed and her expression amused, "Jet-Alone wouldn't even distract an Angel if it can't even damage one human controlled Evangelion."

"What are the Evangelions?" he asked.

"That's classified well above your pay grade," Akagi said with a smirk. She pushed away from the wall as Misato called, "Okay, let's grab our stuff and head home, Rits."

##

That night,

"Recovery of Unit Zero is complete. There was no radioactive contamination. Except for Captain Katsuragi's operation, everything went according to plan." Ritsuko said.

"Very good. Now that the Jet-Alone program is being retooled, the Committee and the UN are pulling funding for it." Gendo replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Making sure we stay the leader in possible anti-Angel technologies?"

He shrugged. "As Rei proved, even without her AT field, the Evangelions are more than a match for anything Mankind can make except another Evangelion. My only concern is that Evangelions Six and on will be held for use against us."

"Even so, with only Dummy systems, the rest shouldn't pose much of a threat against trained human pilots."

"Speaking of which, how are the Fifth and Sixth progressing?"

"Very well. They seem to have movement and grappling down, for the most part. Shinji will begin firearms training with them in a few days."

"Excellent."

##

Okay. Everyone hates the Jet-alone episode. I hate the Jet-Alone episode. All I can think of while watching it is Konata Production's EVA Abridged.

Shinji: Seriously! One good leg-sweep!

Misato: You're putting me on the walking bomb and that's final!

Gendo: Are the preparations complete?

Saboteur: Yes. I've added my... special touch... to the project. It should go as expected.

Gendo: Well, you're cryptically obtuse enough.

Saboteur: Jet-Alone! Sabotage! *click* *dial tone.*

Gendo: *sigh* Thank the pitiless forces of emergent causality that I'm absent next episode. Translation: Oy vey.

So, why is it here, if you the writer, also doesn't like it, you ask? Well, it's canon, like it or not. So it'll be here.

I'm also trying to address plot holes even if it's not convenient to do so. There's no real reason for Misato to try entering the robot. So, just leg sweep it, hold it down, and suppress the blast with an AT field is what she's thinking.

Unforunately, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

KBYEV-22 is the number for a sadly discontinued model kit of the VTOL used in EVA.


	6. Asuka Strikes

Chapter 5: Asuka Strikes

Shinji might have fallen asleep from the helicopter's drone had it not been for Kensuke's constant nattering in his ear for the last hour and a half.

"An Mi-26 Transport Helicopter! I never thought I'd ride in one of these hot mamas!" Kensuke gushed, "This is so cool! It's the most awesome week of my life."

"Glad someone's enjoying it," Touji said as he tried to get the crick out of his neck, "Ugh."

"Well, even trainees need downtime. Plus, it'll give you a chance to look at Unit Two and meet Asuka, who will be training you on melee weapons." Shinji said, yawning. He pulled at the hem of his NERV uniform jacket and yawned again.

"She gonna be as rough as Rei and the new girl?"

"Probably. She's got a temper. And she fights dirty in Simulation." he said, his arms crossed, a gloved finger tapping his arm.

"Fights dirty?" Kensuke asked.

"She's not afraid to kick a guy. You know. There. Repeatedly." He paused, looking upward, then back down at the two boys as he finished, "And we were only four at the time. She's much worse now."

Misato snorted. Kensuke and Touji both winced and protectively covered their groins.

"So, where are we heading?" Touji asked.

"Just to that little boat over there," Misato replied.

Kensuke looked out and his jaw dropped.

"A supercarrier, two battleships and dozens of escorts! Is that the Pacific Fleet?"

"What's left of it," Shinji said. Kensuke stopped and looked at Shinji, who shrugged, "The last Angel did it. I'll show you the footage when we get back home."

##

The helicopter came in for a landing and Shinji leaned over to the other two boys and said, "No slouching. Keep your hands to your sides, square your shoulders, and keep your head level and your mouth shut. You might not have actual assigned ranks yet, but you are NERV Officers. Act like it. As a rule, only speak to UN Officers when addressed. If in doubt, do as Misato does."

"Good advice, Captain Ikari."

"Thank you, Major Katsuragi." Shinji replied as the chopper hit the deck with a light jolt and the pilot spun down the rotors. The door slid back and they debarked as the flight crews tended to the post-flight checklists.

The three uniformed boys walked behind Misato single file and stopped as she did.

"Come on around, boys, line up," she said. They filed around her, and a small smile lit on Shinji's face as he saw his fiery-haired and tempered friend. She was in a light yellow sundress. Shinji shook his head and closed his eyes.

She walked up to them and paused before saying, "So, it's been a while, Third. What's with the getup?"

"This whole thing is official business, Second. You should know that better than most."

"So, where's First and Fourth?"

"They got to stay home. Someone has to guard it in case of an Angel attack."

"So, who are these stooges?"

Shinji rolled his eyes and said, "Well, since they've got the day off of training, I brought the Fifth and Sixth with me today. Touji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, this is NERV Captain Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child, and the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit Two."

"Charmed, huh?" she replied, "Mmm, not much to look at, the three of you."

"We're fourteen. Of course we're not manly men yet," Shinji replied dryly.

"That's true."

"Then again, you're only thirteen, so you're not as beautiful as Misato," he added.

"WHAT!" she shrieked and whacked him on top of his head.

Shinji raised his arms to protect his head, "Ow! See what I mean about temper?"

She aimed a kick at him, and he blocked it, while stepping back.

"Okay, Third. Don't think you can get off without the lumps you're due here."

"Can it wait until we get to Tokyo Three?" he asked, his body set in a defensive posture.

"Yes it can," she replied, "Stooge."

She lowered her hands, as did he.

##

Shinji stood, at ease, behind Misato and to her right. His English was okay, but not great, as he could catch maybe three quarters of what was being said as the Admirals started in on Misato. "Hmm, NERV. And from your antics on the flight deck I was sure you were the leader of this Boy Scout troop. Obviously I was mistaken."

"Thank you for all your gracious hospitality, Admiral."

"Oh no, thank you for the opportunity to babysit so many more children."

"And thank you for your assistance in the marine transport of Eva Unit Two." She withdrew some paper from a folder and held it out, "Here are the specifications for the emergency power supply."

"Humph. You've wasted a trip. I'd never approve any request to activate that toy while at sea in the first place."

"Think of it as being prepared for an emergency. The EVAs are quite valuable, Sir."

"So valuable that the entire remainder of the Pacific Fleet has to be pulled for guard duty? Exactly when did the UN recommission us into a bloody cargo service?"

The fleet captain replied, "If I remember correctly, it was shortly after a certain organization was established."

"Guarding a toy. What a ridiculously grandiose assignment for the entire Pacific Fleet."

Shinji rolled his eyes and despite his best effort not to, let a small sigh out.

"Is there something wrong, young man?" the Admiral snarled, glaring at Shinji.

Shinji shrugged and deadpanned as he switched to English. "I am sorry, Sir. You are just... dismissing the most powerful fighting machine on the planet. I suppose from your... view you think it is a toy with children for pilots."

"So, why not use adults to pilot them?" the Admiral asked.

While Shinji decided on a series of half-truths, the problem was translating it. He leveled a flat gaze at the older man and replied, "Sir, adults don't work in Evangelions. The pilot drives it by..."

His mouth worked, and he asked what the next word was in Japanese.

"Synchronizing," Misato said.

"Synchronizing their brain to the EVA. We children have flexible brains. We come back alive, but also..."

He asked again what something was, and this time Asuka said, "Sane."

"Thank you. Sane. Adults can not. Shogoki, my EVA, killed my mother, when I was four when she try to pilot it. She was first pilot. Now I'm the pilot."

Touji and Kensuke took a step back. Asuka looked away and down. The Admiral's face betrayed his shock, and Shinji continued, "Sir, do you believe we'd risk it, if it was not the only way? Angel destroyed most of Pacific Fleet. How much is Fleet cost compared to Evangelion?"

"I wouldn't know," the Admiral admitted.

Shinji smiled, "I don't know either, Sir. I just have to pilot EVA. Please respect EVA, even if you not respect pilots."

Misato addressed them in Japanese, "All right, kids, clear the bridge."

"Yes, Ma'am," Shinji said in Japanese with a crisp nod, then turned toward the door. The other three children followed him.

She then switched back to English and addressed the Admiral. "I apologize for his words, Admiral."

Before he could respond, a voice cut in from the side, "So, here's where you are." The four children stopped as a scruffy man with ponytail poked his head into the bridge.

The Admiral gritted his teeth and snapped, "Mister Kaji, I won't ask you again. Do not come on to my Bridge without permission."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Misato snarled at him.

"I'm Pilot Sohryu's Escort and Bodyguard. So, I'm on special assignment. Maybe we can catch up for a bit since you have her with you?"

The Admiral turned and looked out over the ships and the Evangelion, "Yes, please. Get your power cord installed, Major. Dismissed. And take him with you."

As they left the bridge, the Admiral turned to the Captain, a small smile on his face, "Kid has balls to stand up to me like that. English could use some work."

The Fleet Captain just smiled.

##

_It felt something. Something it had dreamed was lost. It was only the faintest shadow of the song, but it was there. As it slowly neared, Gaghiel, the Roaring Beast of God, awoke, and left it's hiding place. Complementation was within it's grasp._

##

Misato stormed away from the Bridge as Kaji attempted to make small talk, while Asuka and Shinji were arguing a point of Evangelion piloting, while both Touji and Kensuke listened in, the former paying attention to the Kaji-Katsuragi encounter, and the latter enthralled by the Sohryu-Ikari argument.

"No, Asuka, I'm telling you, when you're synched higher than eighty, it doesn't feel like you're getting simple feedback, it feels like you are the EVA."

"Oh, go take a long walk off the Flight Deck," Misato spit.

"Can't we talk like reasonable adults, Misa-chan?"

"And I'm telling you it's not like that. I doesn't feel like I'm the EVA, it feels like just driving it." Asuka countered.

"Reasonable went out the door years ago Kaji," Misato snarled.

"Just wait until you actually see combat, and not tightly controlled Simulations. When you hit Eighty or higher you'll agree." Shinji replied.

Asuka harumphed, "I still think you're full of it, spouting that crap at the Admiral. Even if it got him to shut up."

"There's no need to be hostile, Misa-chan. I'm not trying to get back in your bed. I just want to become friends. That's something we didn't do last time."

Shinji sighed before replying, "I'm not full of it! Mom was absorbed by the Core in that Contact experiment. What's worse is that core is still in Unit One. I can sometimes feel her trying to reach out and communicate when I'm in high synch."

"Is that why your synch scores constantly suck in the last year or so?"

"Oh is that so?" Misato snapped back.

"That's because I relock the depth at point four after they set the initial depth. I stopped locking it deeper when I found out Mom was in there." Shinji said.

Neither Asuka nor Shinji noticed that Kaji and Misato had stopped arguing and were staring at them.

How do you know that?" Asuka replied, her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms.

"You remember I peaked at Eighty-Seven point Three. She told me she was there. I got scared and synch crashed. Ever since I've locked it too low for communication. It just feels weird that I'm piloting the monster my mother's soul inhabits."

"Almost makes our problems seem pathetic in comparison," Kaji said softly to Misato.

"I need to oversee the cable installation. Why don't you make the arrangements to get them over to Unit Two for a pilot's inspection." Misato said before she stormed away.

"Don't worry, Mister Kaji. I'll escort them to my Unit Two. You go chase after Misato."

"Tempting. But I have something I need to check on myself. By your leave, Pilots. I'll radio ahead to make sure that you can get over without being hassled."

##

"So, what do you think?" Asuka said as she perched atop the back of her Evangelion.

"Matches your personality," Touji mumbled as Kensuke cried, "Awesome!"

"Not like I haven't seen it before," Shinji said.

Asuka was about to retort when General Quarters sounded.

"What should we do?" Kensuke asked, "That's a battlestations alert."

"We stay with the EVA. If we need to, we get inside. You brought your A-10 clips, and are wearing your plugsuits like I asked, right?" Shinji asked.

"Yep." Kensuke said as Touji replied, "Yeah."

"Set them to filter mode. Otherwise, your brainwaves will interfere with Asuka's piloting if have no choice but to ride along with her."

"I'm getting this out now, Third. We may need to change in a hurry."

"Get changed now, Second. I'm not taking a risk, and neither should you." He took off his gloves and started to shrug off his Uniform jacket.

She grinned. "So you brought your plugsuit?"

"We all three did. I asked myself this morning, 'When would the most inconvenient time be for an Angel attack?' Now you know why," he replied.

"Well, I heard what you said about setting their connectors to Filter so they won't interfere. Thing is I've always wanted to try dual piloting an EVA."

"Your mother did come up with the system links for that possibility," he replied.

"Okay. Turn around and don't look. If I catch any of you peeking you're dead."

Shinji turned away as he smirked and finished stripping off his uniform. The other two started to do the same.

Asuka turned to watch the three boys and make sure they didn't peek as she stripped. Her gaze was immediately drawn to Shinji as his pants hit the deck, revealing his plugsuited-almost-bare-ass. A tingle of excitement ran through her, which she ruthlessly squelched. _'Whoa, calm down Asuka. You know he doesn't see you like that...'_

Her panties hit the floor and she started to pull her plugsuit up her legs, getting it over her hips before she took her sundress off and then her bra. She then pulled it up and got her arms into the sleeves, and shrugged it up over her bare chest and shoulders before pressing the button on the right wrist, causing the material to contract and conform to her body.

She stretched a little to adjust it, then called, "You can look now," as she gathered her clothes and stuffed them into the watertight duffel.

"Do you have space in that duffel for all of our uniforms?" Shinji asked, "If not, it's not problem, I just hate having to wash LCL out of clothes."

##

Aerial spotters saw it moving in well before it made contact with the Fleet. As a result, General Quarters was sounded. It was a massive object, nearly two kilometers in length and almost three hundred meters wide, and moving at the impossible rate of one hundred ten knots.

All ships scattered, creating a flotilla barrier between it, the carrier and the barge.

Seeing the size and speed of the incoming target, the Admiral granted permission to link the NERV-1 MAGI into their systems for analysis.

The pattern came back Blue, mere seconds before it made contact with the fleet. It rose out of the water, it's three-way jaws open, and it closed on a Iowa class Battleship. It dwarfed the doomed ship, which only barely managed to get a broadside off before the Angel's jaws closed down on it and dove, dragging the Wisconsin under the waves.

Then it exploded underwater as the ship finally gave under the crushing power of the Angel's jaws.

##

Kaji glanced out of the porthole in his quarters and as he pulled out his cell phone and grabbed a pair of binoculars.

"We seem to have run into a problem."

"Yes, I'm aware. Whatever you do, do not let the package fall into the Angel's possession."

"The fight's not going well."

"Not a worry. You have a total of four pilots capable of Synchronizing with the EVA. If all else fails you can simply leave."

"I might just do that anyway."

He tracked the Angel for a few seconds longer as he hung up the cell phone, then started changing into a flight suit.

##

As they felt an undersea shock-wave, they raced to the barge's main deck and looked out as they saw a massive and insanely fast something ram into a Destroyer, splitting into two.

"What is that?" Touji asked as another explosion shook the barge

"It must be an Angel," Asuka said, _"Wundervoll."_

She dashed back for the tarp and the Evangelion underneath, and the boys followed her. They ducked under and saw that she was already scrambling up the Evangelion. She ejected the plug, and opened the hatch.

"Come on, get up here and get in!" Shinji obeyed, climbing up the behemoth with practiced ease.

She glared at Touji and Kensuke as they made their way up more slowly, "Okay, this is how it works. You two will stay toward the top of the plug. Use the sides of the Drive console for an anchor. You," she said to Shinji, "Will be sitting in the secondary piloting position. I don't want to feel your dick pressing into my back, do you hear?"

"Yes dear," he deadpanned.

Despite her real feelings about him and the whole issue, she narrowed her eyes and snarled, "I'll kill you after this is done. Get in!"

##

A flight deck elevator activated and the bridge received a takeoff request.

Misato glanced out at the modified Yak-38 and saw a familiar unshaven face in the co-pilot's seat.

She grabbed a microphone and snapped, "What are you doing?"

"I was given two missions here, Katsuragi. I'm going to have to leave the easy one, bodyguard duty, to you. I have a delivery that needs to be made, and the Angel must not get anywhere near it. Sorry. I'll make it up to you later."

"Admiral, please, deny takeoff permission."

"He's already been cleared," the Admiral replied as the VTOL leaped into the air and streaked off .

##

Five more ships had gone down, whether from being rammed and torn apart, or simply dragged under the waves. All ships were ordered to evasive maneuvers and Flank Speed, and the barge and carrier brought to Emergency Speed.

Broadsides missed as most guns couldn't track it fast enough, Missiles had no effect, nor did synchronized torpedo launch bracketing.

A few minutes later, all ships were ordered to Emergency Speed.

Then a power reading and the Angel turned hard. Unit Two stood up, the tarpaulin covering it like a shroud. The Eva shrugged, letting it slide back and fall on the deck.

The Angel aimed itself at the barge, slammed into a deployed AT field, and slipped underneath it with no damage to the ship. Then, the Evangelion leaped.

##

_"__Einstellen Stecker Tiefe gegen den Punkt sechs. Einsatzkapsel LCL füllen eingeleitet. Beginnend Start-Sequenz: A-10-Anschluss Nerv, bestätigt, Herz-Monitor, bestätigt. Synchrostart jetzt!"_

The screens all lit up 'Fehler' as the plug started to fill with LCL, and she snapped back at them, "If you must think, think in German!"

"First, there's going to be residual noise from them, and they don't know German. My German isn't that great either. So, you, Ms. Fluent in Five Languages, need to think in Japanese or English, and let us know which."

"Fine, Japanese! _Dummköpfe_," she snapped, then turned away from them and said, "Set primary interface language to Japanese. A-10 connections achieved. Setting plug depth at point six..."

"Hold up, Asuka, with all of us in here you may want to set the plug depth as low as you can. Our synch scores are going to suck as it is."

"All right, Third. Setting plug depth at point nine, releasing locks."

Pilot synch ratios appeared on a floating holographic tag and Shinji quirked an eyebrow at his sixty-three percent ratio and at Asuka's eighty-two.

"Okay, maybe dual synch drives the figures higher? You're a full twenty over normal," he said.

"You're the one who told me to lock the plug deeper. Reset plug depth to point seven."

Touji rolled his eyes and deadpanned as the plug ratcheted back two clicks, "You two sound like my grandparents the way you argue."

Shinji looked at the synch score drops, both of around fifteen percent, and called the new ratios out. Asuka ignored Touji, internally promising herself to make his life miserable later, and said, "Evangelion Unit Two, Synchrostart_._"

The red Evangelion powered up, and she got it to a stand as the battery indicator counted off fifteen minutes.

Shinji frowned and muttered, "Pulling up readings on the Angel. Magi Confirmation, Gaghiel. But we're not supposed to face the Roaring Beast of God yet. This throws a crimp into SEELE's plans."

"What are you muttering about," she snapped.

"Trying to plan, sorry. We're C-type fitted right? Then let's meet the bastard underwater and keep it away from the ships."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Nope, just suicide. I don't have a plan yet. No advance warning, so we're just winging it."

"Those are usually your best plans, Third."

He smiled, "All right. Do you have your swords?"

"Stabby and Slashy? Yes. They're stowed in the pylons."

"Once we're in the water, draw 'em. You focus on movement and combat, and I'll manage targeting, sensors and AT field."

"We've never tried this in simulation, before."

"I have, with Rei. Not for real, just simulation."

"Let's make history, then," she said. He plotted the trajectory of the Angel, and overlaid it on her displays.

"Deploying AT field around the Barge." Shinji said, "Gotta protect our ride."

Gaghiel rammed into the field and slipped under the ship, then Asuka leaped for the carrier. The Angel made a huge sweeping turn.

"All hands, Brace for impact," the Carrier's captain called as the Evangelion jumped.

The weight of the Evangelion probably would have snapped the ship in half had Shinji not used the retro-rockets to soften the landing through a series of modulated firings.

As it was, the ship listed severely and the flight deck buckled under the weight. Tethers snapped and sent half a dozen fightercraft of various types into the ocean. Asuka reached out to the power cord with one hand while shifting the Eva's weight to re-balance the ship.

"This is Unit Two, I've connected power. I'm going to dive off and engage the Angel underwater."

Gaghiel aimed it's mass at the carrier, and Asuka dove off the deck, right at him as Shinji deployed the AT field again. Angel and Evangelion AT fields collided underwater, and a rogue wave formed, sweeping the destroyers and barge away from their battle formation while the carrier and remaining battleship listed.

She drew the swords from the pylons while Shinji held the AT field at full power. He called, "Powering up turboscrews."

"Okay, we're in the water, the swords are out, power's connected. Where's the core?" Asuka asked.

"Asuka, Shinji, are you there?" as the water-turbine propellers built into bulges on the Evangelion's torso spun up.

"Yes, Misato, we are. We've reconfigured for Dual piloting."

"The other two stooges are riding shotgun behind us. We couldn't leave them behind on the barge, as much as I'd want to," Asuka added.

"We don't see the core anywhere," Shinji said, "Any ideas?"

"Probably inside it somewhere." Misato called.

"Wonderful," he retorted.

"Well, Third, lets get eaten and then cut our way through it until we find the core."

"Not yet. Let's inflict some damage and lead it away from the fleet first."

"Good thinking. If it explodes like most of them do we'd lose the rest of the ships from where you are." Misato called.

Asuka dodged to her right, as the props activated and she raced forward. Shinji dropped the AT field as he designated target locations on the left flank of Gaghiel. Unit-02 streaked forward, spinning as she swung the two swords.

Gaghiel banked right, away from the Evangelion, but floundered as Asuka's swords connected and she left two long bloody gashes along it's whole left side.

The swords dug in and cut through Angelic flesh, and exited through it's tail, leaving part of it hanging on by only the merest filaments of muscle. It continued it's bank, and accelerated away as Unit-02 swept left, intent on following the Angel and engaging it away from the fleet.

She saw through enhanced imaging as the Angel repaired the damage she had dealt, and it's tail regrew it's connection to the body.

_"__Scheiße__!"_ she called, "It's regenerating!"

"Then we have to deal more damage. Shall we do the Jonah special?"

"If we can get it to charge us face on, yeah."

"Okay, let's push the Turboscrews to the limit."

"We might run out of cable doing that."

"We have battery packs, remember?"

"So we do. Set it to eject once we only have a hundred meters left on it."

The Angel banked and charged toward them. Shinji red-lined the props, and Unit-02 surged forward. Gaghiel's maw opened and they saw the core.

"It's in the mouth!" Asuka called.

Both combatants closed, but Gaghiel closed it's mouth and dove at the last second, evading Asuka's sword swipe by meters.

"He's too fast," Shinji said, "We're not fast enough to land a hit now."

"Is there any way to move faster?"

"Eject either the umbilical or the power packs. We'd move fastest without both."

"How long's the cable?"

"Four thousand meters of cable."

Asuka gritted her teeth, and said, "Not very long either way. We'll keep the batteries. Major, we're ejecting the cable. We'll pursue for three minutes, then turn back to reconnect. The pylon batteries should leave us enough to perform any action on our way back."

"Very well kids. This operation's in your hands."

"Cable jettisoned. Wind it back, fast. Ready Third?"

"Overdriving props. I can probably run One-Ten before we have too much heat buildup and power loss issues. Might give us the edge we need in speed."

_"Wundervoll."_

"It's accelerating away. It looks like it's trying to draw us off."

"For quote on quote mindless beasts, the Angels seem capable of tactical thinking," Asuka said as Gaghiel shrank from their view.

"Then let's spring it's trap, but in reverse. Let's swim out for another minute, then play dead and let it try to eat us."

"We get eaten, destroy the Core, killing the Angel, and then cut our way out and head back to the fleet before power runs out. Daring. I like it. Good plan. Thanks, Third."

"Knew you'd like it, Second."

A feral grin appeared on her face. If Touji and Kensuke had been able to see it, they would have probably wet themselves.

"I'm going to put the swords away. They'll cause too much drag."

Unit-02 streaked out as Asuka sheathed the swords within the Pylons, and just at the twelve minute mark, Shinji shut down all but the sensors, computer and life support. The Eva's propulsion went offline and the EVA tumbled forward, somersaulting under the water.

His finger hovered over the reactivation button and they watched as Gaghiel stopped swimming away, and then began to circle the EVA like a shark as it drifted to a halt.

"C'mon, you bastard," Shinji said softly. Touji gritted his teeth.

"I don't think he's going for it," Asuka said as Gaghiel made his third circle around them.

"Just wait. We reactivate too soon we won't be able to do this again."

The Angel started to swim away, and Asuka said, "He's moving away!"

"Wouldn't you? We're the only threat to it. If you were him, wouldn't you test us several times to make sure we're dead in the water before moving in for a killing blow?"

"True. I'm just worried about if he goes back to the fleet."

"He's not moving in that direction."

Asuka's mouth opened, then closed. She thought for a second and then nodded, "True."

"Just be patient. He'll come to us."

Gaghiel charged, and Asuka started to panic as Shinji didn't power up. Kensuke let out a whimper and Touji just grit his teeth harder.

"Hold on, it's a feint!" Shinji said.

True to Shinji's word, Gaghiel broke off at the last moment.

"How did you know?"

He blinked, "It was clocking over two hundred Kilometers per hour when we were chasing it. It's moving about fifty there."

"I'm not sure about next time."

"Me either. Powering up the Turboscrews and engaging the clutch, but keeping main power off."

"All right. Trusting your judgment."

"I only hope I'm right."

This time, Gaghiel accelerated much faster, closing on them. Shinji reactivated the EVA and de-clutched the props, driving toward the Angel as it's mouth opened. Before it could peel off, Unit Two entered it's mouth, but was stopped halfway as the jaws closed, and it's teeth punched straight through the EVA.

Both pilots bit back a cry of pain. Alarms went off and Shinji silenced them as Asuka drew the swords. She stabbed one into the Core, cracking it, then stabbed it again with the other, splitting fragments from it. She pulled the first sword out, then stabbed it again, splitting the core into jagged thirds.

Gaghiel shuddered and wailed as the core flashed white...

The explosion slammed into them, battering, burning and blinding the two pilots as it burned off some of the EVA's head and pylon armor, but Gaghiel's body contained the explosion even as it slowly drifted to the sea floor.

Asuka and Shinji had no choice, and with one eye on the timer, they used the ruined remains of the swords to hack their way out of the corpse. They managed to cut themselves free with five minutes time remaining, and Asuka immediately began swimming Unit-02 back to the Fleet.

##

"What are you doing?" Misato called as they approached the fleet and then stopped and sank to the ocean floor.

"Getting back onto the barge," Asuka said.

The EVA crouched, and Shinji spun the props to full just before she jumped. The massive red behemoth broke out of the water, and arced into the air. Mindful of the fuel left, Shinji began pulsing the retros to allow the Evangelion to land on the barge, hopefully with no damage.

Asuka gently guided Unit-02 back to the LCL pool built into the barge deck, and only half a dozen feet above the deck, the fuel ran out of the retros.

The barge shook as the EVA landed, and Asuka dropped her Evangelion to a kneel, and carefully made it lay down, trying to keep the barge balanced.

She shut down with only a few seconds of power left to spare, then drained the plug and began the ejection sequence.

##

The four pilots had made their way back to the barge deck, after clearing their lungs of LCL, and saw a trio of small craft making their way through the water toward the barge.

Dread filled Shinji as he saw both the Admiral and Misato on board one of them.

"Okay, well guys, stand at attention, and lets get this over with."

The four pilots lined up as the Admiral, Fleet captain and Misato climbed up the gangplank and onto the deck. They stopped in front of the adolescents.

After a pause, the Admiral asked, "So, who is responsible for what happened."

"I am, Sir." Shinji said before Asuka could open her mouth.

"But you aren't the pilot of that unit, are you?"

"Asuka and I were both synchronized with the Evangelion. She and I have been in the program longer than the other two, and I am older than she is. So I will take full responsibility for all damages and trouble we caused to the Fleet."

"Look Shinji, I was driving it..."

"And I was managing targeting, AT field, tactical displays and the secondary propulsion systems."

"Damages, boy? That flight deck is due to be replaced in a couple years anyway. You saved my fleet, both of you. Thanks to your quick action, only seven ships were lost. If I could I'd give you both a medal."

He saluted the children, then turned back to the gangplank.

A flabbergasted Shinji and Asuka had to be guided onto a boat for the ride back to the carrier.

##

"So, I heard you had an adventure," Ritsuko said as Misato flopped into the passenger seat of a NERV Van. The sliding door opened and the four pilots climbed in, having redressed in their clothes and left their plugsuits in a bag to be taken to headquarters and cleaned.

"Quick thinking, and two skilled pilots made it look easy. Shinji's turning into a regular tactical genius. Before too long I'll be taking lessons from him."

The boy in question blushed as Ritsuko replied, "So, Dual Synched?"

"Yeah. And they had two passengers as well. We got a lot of data for you to look at now."

"Well, this is important data. Yeah, I'll be up all night. This is the first time we've gotten solid Dual Synch information on the SAVI Core. Good job you two. I'll let your mother know as well. She'll want to look it over as well, and hear your report as well."

"Thanks,"Asuka muttered. Shinji thought she looked less than pleased at the mention of her mother, but decided against asking right away.

##

"Well, that was an exciting trip." Kaji said in the darkened office within NERV Headquarters.

"Indeed." Gendo said, his hands crossed in front of his face as he looked on.

"So, you want to see it? It's in stasis, but it has started to regenerate itself." Kaji opened the case, and Gendo straightened and allowed a feral smile to appear on his face.

"Adam. The First Angel."

"If that's all then, I'll take my leave." Kaji said.

"There is one more thing, Agent." Gendo said as he closed the case.

"Oh?"

Gendo pushed up his sunglasses and locked eyes with Kaji."It is a matter that has concerned me. I want to know what your price is."

"My price?"

"Every man has his price. Even I. I know you work for SEELE and the JSSDF in addition to NERV. The JSSDF holds no real interest to me at the moment. To tell the truth, serving them is the same to me as serving me for now. What would turn you against SEELE? That is what concerns me."

Kaji debated for a moment, then decided. Gendo was up to something, but the man had a reputation for being fair. "The truth. What is SEELE after? What are you after?"

Gendo leaned back in his chair.

"You'd be taking a risk learning the truth."

"No more risk than you're taking telling me the truth."

"Very well. I'll let the records speak. You can glean the truth for yourself from them and decide who you want to serve."

Gendo snapped his fingers and grabbed air above his desk. He formed a cubical dataspace over his desk, then opened and laid out all the files related to Second Impact, Angels, SEELE, and Instrumentality within the dataspace, tabbed and overlaid.

"This will be the only time I show you these files. Make yourself comfortable. We'll be here for a while," he said.

"I'll get the coffee," Fuyustuki said as he sauntered toward the office entrance.

##

"I'm afraid to finish reading at this point," Kaji admitted as he held his head in his hands, "This is simply to horrifying. And I've been helping these bastards?"

"I know. You see a glimpse of their plans now. Now I shall tell you mine. Who you work for in truth is completely dependent on you. Regardless of your choice, you do have a place here, for now."

"So, what is your plan?"

"In short, stopping Third Impact forever. Destroying SEELE, or barring that, allowing one not corrupted by the lust for immortality to take over SEELE, seeing as she is immortal already."

"Who would this Immortal be?"

"That would be me. Do you think it is wise to tell him, Daddy?" Rei said as she walked into the office.

"He knows SEELE's true plans now. Why not? The most he can do is betray me and betray mankind. The Scenario is too far advanced for SEELE to truly recover."

She glanced at Fuyutsuki, "Father. How are you?"

"Well enough for an old man. Let's go and talk. Ikari and Special Agent Kaji need to finish coming to a decision."

Fuyutsuki led Rei out, leaving Gendo alone with Kaji.

Once they were alone, Gendo smiled, "Now, I shall tell you everything that I plan."

##

Okay, I admit, I Google translated all of Asuka's German. I could have used some of Tiffany Grant's lines, but I figured it would be a bit more fun this way. If I botched it up, lemme know what the actual translations are.

The lines used: Setting Plug depth to Point Six. Entry Plug LCL fill initiated. Beginning start sequence: A-10 nerve connection, confirmed; heart monitor, confirmed. Synchrostart now!

Part of Shinji's talkback to the good Admiral was really inspired by 'Once Again, with Feeling', by Crazy-88. It's pretty decent, and it's a shame he hasn't written anything further in the series, seeing as it's been inactive for four years.

I like having the next chapter at least sketched in rough when I release a chapter. Between this fact, a couple of original stories I'm working on under another writer's name, a healthy reading habit (what is it about us loving to read as much as write?), a couple of games I like to play to relax after work and having a day job that eats up 40+ hours per week, all I can say is a chapter will be released when it's released.

My Crit group doesn't touch fanfic, and really, I don't blame them with how bad most of it is. So any errors and stuff are whatever I can pick out. I already know I have issues with describing things. That's their biggest gripe with me when I give them a scene.


	7. Just Dance

Ten years in the future, Tokyo-Three

After a mere two months of construction, the new NERV Evangelion Pilot Training facility was finally open. It had been an arduous journey, what with the post-Angel War reorganization and restructuring of NERV into a civilian research corporation, the re-christened Gehirn.

However, it was not to remain that way. After nine years, former SEELE members had escaped prison and sold the MP Eva designs to various terrorist groups. In response, Gehirn re-formed NERV as a subsidiary Private Military Corporation for the express purpose of hunting down and destroying those former SEELE members and any terrorist organizations that had Evangelions.

NERV Commander Shinji Ikari yawned as he climbed the steps and joined Hikari Horaki just inside the lobby. Technically, he was in full command of the new NERV, while his father and step-mother ran Gehirn and were the only ones with authority over him.

His first act was to start recruiting and training pilots, initiate a construction program for this center and construction at several facilities, including the Branch 2 and Branch 3 for the production of New Class Six Evangelions. These were the first Combat model Evangelions Gehirn/NERV had produced since the Angel War.

After the retirement of Doctor Kyoko Sohryu and her husband from Gehirn, he asked that all research and researchers be moved to Tokyo-3, and converted Berlin and Massachusetts into production lines, almost doubling the construction rate of Evangelions.

And so it was, that as the world geared up for War, only NERV could save them again. He felt older than he was. Too much was riding on the Evangelion.

"Good morning Shinji."

"Morning, Hikari. Coffee?" he asked.

She suppressed a yawn and replied, "That's our new motto isn't it? God's had his coffee, all's right with the world."

"I'm surprised you didn't say 'her'," he replied as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm not talking about your step-mom. I'm talking about you."

He snickered at that as they walked over to a coffee machine in the lobby, then replied, "Nah, Dad's the minor deity. I'm just human."

Elsewhere in Tokyo-Three, Gendo coughed and spit out a mouthful of coffee, then fanned his mouth with his hand. "Damn, too hot to drink," he mumbled around a burnt tongue.

Back in the Training Center, Shinji paid for their two canned coffees. Then he paid for a third one, waited for a count of three, then turned and looked at the doors as they opened.

In stepped Doctor Asuka Langley Sohryu. She glanced over and he tossed the can her direction. She caught it, cracked it open and downed half of it in a single draught – uncannily reminding him of Misato years before.

They all three finished their coffees almost at the same time, and each passed the same garbage can, tossing the cans in with practiced ease. Then they split up, and walked into different locker rooms, where they all got out of their uniforms and into leotards, or in Shinji's case, shorts and a t-shirt.

Then almost simultaneously, they exited and walked toward the actual training center.

Hikari stretched uncomfortably and said, "I hope we can still do this. The latest batch of hopefuls are about as coordinated as a bunch of five year olds with ADHD."

"So were we at the beginning," Shinji replied. "Hell, you were the latecomer to our little gang. You saw us after we'd been trying it for several months."

"That's true," Asuka said.

"Never thought they'd have us doing the training, much less reactivate us at all."

"Don't remind me," Asuka spat, "I'd like nothing better than to kill those former SEELE members with my bare hands."

"Better them than me," Shinji muttered as Hikari said, "When do you think we'll be deployed again?"

"As soon as Kaji finishes tracking the next batch down." Shinji added.

"Speaking of which, how are Misato and Ryoji?" Asuka asked.

"Well, she's semi-retired while raising the kids, and he's the head for Section Two now."

"I know that Baka-Shinji." Asuka growled, "How are they doing?"

Shinji smirked, "Well, she is supposed to be here today as a technical advisor for the training. You can ask her yourself."

"Remember when we started the teamwork regimen?" Asuka asked.

"I don't think I could ever forget." Shinji remarked as they entered the hall.

##

*sigh* ...Just Dance...

##

Present day:

It had been a few days since Unit-02 had arrived. Repairs had been completed and it had been refitted to the baseline B-type equipment. Ritsuko Akagi got off of a conference call with Kyoko Sohryu several days before and immediately ordered tests. After spending the last few days analyzing the data from the Dual synch and running a plethora of synch tests that had left the pilots weary, she still wanted more information.

She already knew the dual synch tests with Unit-00 would be a failure, indeed, putting any pilot other than Rei into Unit-00 without also installing a new core would be a failure. Unit-01's core tended to be picky, but may just allow dual synch. She wasn't sure that Yui Ikari would allow any other pilot solo however.

She authorized the tests, and it was no surprise the results. No pilots could Synch solo in Unit-00 except Rei, and the only pilot able to Dual synch with Rei in Unit-00 was Shinji, and she supposed it was due to their close relationship. Shinji's score however, at 8%, was still well below Activation borderline, and Rei seemed strained during the test.

All the pilots were able to achieve solo and Dual Synch with Unit-01, but all of the pilots save Shinji barely got past the Activation borderline.

She once again regretted pulling the SAVI cores that had resided within Unit-00 and Unit-01 before the Angel attacks, but they had some issues with acquiring the right materials at that crucial time just after the first attack, and couldn't afford to let Cores go to waste. So, with reluctance she had shipped the two SAVI Cores to the United States for Units Three and Four and reinstalled the original Cores for the Prototype and Test Type. It had taken the pilots a week to get used to them.

Rei adapted easier than Shinji had, the core was effectively blank except for the personality Rei has imprinted on it years before, and she merely reflected her soul off of it, and the EVA synchronized to her rather than she to it. That was the reason only she could pilot Unit-00 at present.

Shinji's ratios skyrocketed, and after one disastrous high-80s test, he synch crashed. He didn't think she knew, but he was re-locking the plug depth very low before final stage. From a comment Misato had made on their return from bringing Unit-02, Shinji's mind had been contacted by his mother within the EVA, and he got scared.

SAVI core equipped EVAS were, however, set for Dual Synch and in theory could accept any trained person as a pilot. It was proven several times, all six pilots were able to make identical synch scores in either Unit-05 or Unit-02.

Still, she wanted more data. Combat Data. Fate would be kind and give it to her.

An object had been detected by one of the Pacific Fleet Battlecruisers patrolling Japanese waters. They requested Tokyo-3's Magi Link so they could get an analysis, and it came back Pattern Blue.

Per a new protocol that had been instituted, the Angel was tracked, but allowed to pass without a shot fired. The UN didn't want to lose any more ships if they could help it.

Fuyutsuki was in contact with a JSSDF General that had been freshly assigned to Tokyo-3, and he came into the Command Center. JSSDF forces, newly stationed within Tokyo-3, were bought to Combat Alert.

The six pilots arrived shortly, the last two being the new boys.

Misato, Fuyutsuki and the General were discussing a basic battle plan, and they all finally agreed that all four Evangelions, and the bulk of the mechanized forces would engage the Angel on the shore near what used to be Numazu.

NERV mobilized all of it's capability to lift two portable power plants, four cables, the EVAs, the Command Van, and support crews.

The JSSDF immediately dispatched it's new Tokyo-3Armor Division and VTOLs. Their job would be to provide fire support and skirmish for the EVAs as they engaged the Angel.

##

"Mari, Asuka, you there?" Shinji called as Unit-01 powered up. He grabbed a cable and locked it into the port on the EVA's back.

"Yes," both girls called in tandem. Mari glanced and grinned at the boy perched in a secondary position behind her, where the Drive console would normally be.

"Good. Touji, Kensuke?"

"Riding shotgun in Big Red," the former said while the second simply said "Yeah!"

"Rei?"

"I am here."

"ARCTIS Mobile Battle Network Active," Lieutenant Aoba called, "Command Van Online and acting as Master Computer. Uplink to Tokyo-Three established. Relaying shared targeting between Evangelions. Latency average is twenty milliseconds. We're within spec and ready."

"Okay, Misato, what's the battleplan? Take turns?" Shinji asked as Asuka complained, "Four on one doesn't seem like a fair battle."

"That's the point of it, Asuka. The Angels have many unknown abilities. We can't afford to 'Fight fair'. The plan is simple. Mari and Asuka are going to be close-in. Kensuke and Touji will be managing AT fields and data systems for them. Shinji and Rei stay at range and lay down covering fire. Try to keep it pinned until they can destroy it." Misato replied. She glanced around at the cockpit views of all four EVAs, then at the tactical holographic topographical map of the battlefield in front of her.

"Yes ma'am. Rei, you heard her. Lets break out the type 20s." Shinji said.

"Ma'am," Lieutenant Hyuga said, "Am I seeing this right?"

"Confirmed Shinji." Rei said as she broke the seal on a case and extracted a rifle.

Misato looked at his display and her brow creased.

"Two S2 signatures?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Get me the MAGI designation and run a crosscheck against the name," she said.

"I am so glad Dr. Akagi cleared the Magorox for field testing." Asuka called with glee as she cracked the case on the massive AT field sword. Above her, Touji cringed a little, but focused on making the overlays work and the AT field switchover system.

"Designation confirmed: Isafrel." Aoba replied, "Running check. Angel of Song."

"Two signatures, but only one Blue pattern. Kids, listen up."

"You and your swords. I'll take the Sonic Glaive." Mari replied.

"We're here Misato," Shinji called.

"The Angel apparently has two S2 Cores, but there's only one Blue pattern. I don't know what it means, but be careful."

"Yes, Ma'am. You heard her. We're possibly looking to destroy two Cores. Be on watch." Shinji said.

"Shall we decide who gets first swing?" Asuka asked.

"I'll back you, Asuka. You have the prototype that needs testing. The Glaive is proven."

"I think I have this. Tactical displays up, switching overlays. Systems ready," Kensuke said.

"Good, cutie," Mari replied.

"Okay Mari. Powering AT field Focusers. Magoroku Exterminate Sword online and at full power." Asuka replied, then grinned as orange lines of force appeared from the long hollow shaft of the Magorox as it powered up and focused Unit-02's AT field into an edge in the sword. "AT field switchover system standing by, all systems report ready. Shared Targeting, uh, Thing working." Touji pitched in.

Both EVAs dropped into guard stances, Unit-05 holding the Glaive in a stance that reminded Shinji of the sword fighting stance Waki Gamae. Unit-02 held held the two-handed Magorox to it's right in a position that Rei could not identify.

"What stance is that, Second," Rei called, "It looks like an improper Siegan no Kamae."

"It's a German sword guard known as the Pflug, or plow, in your language. The sword's obviously designed as a katana, so I can handle it like a _kreigsmesser_." Asuka replied as the Angel broke from the water ahead of them, "I'm not really familiar with Japanese stances. If this thing works as well as I hope I'm going to suggest some changes to the design so I'm more comfortable with it."

"I see." Rei replied, "Target locked. Adjusting position for line of sight."

"Target sighted, Major. Permission to engage?" Shinji asked as a firing corridor lit up on the HUD.

"Granted. Take that Angel down." Misato replied from the Command Van.

Units 00 and 01 opened fire. Flashes of light scattered off of the Angel's AT field, the small explosions doing nothing to it. The JSSDF forces, keeping mobile to make themselves harder to hit, assisted them with a withering barrage of Anti-tank Autocannon fire and rockets.

Isafrel stopped, blinked it's eyes, then strode forward, even as explosions harmlessly blasted off of it's AT field.

Almost immediately, an alarm went off in the Command Van.

"The Angel is transmitting a subsonic sound pattern! All the Pilots synch ratios are dropping!"

"It's lulling them to sleep!"

"Why isn't it affecting us?" Misato asked.

Mari had already slumped over, as had Touji. Kensuke was too busy trying to fight sleep to switch the controls over, so Unit-05 had effectively shut down. Asuka and Shinji were also fighting sleep, and their EVAs noticeably sagged. Unit-00, however, was a different story.

##

Rei heard the song of the Angel, trying to put her to sleep. Then she felt it again. The Other stirring within. However, it was not stirred to more than the merest semblance of consciousness before it began to Sing. A Song that was counter to the Angel's.

She felt her plug forcibly ratchet backwards, in counter to the mental command it had been given. Again, _it_ was taken from her. Then again, she knew, it was not yet time for that fullness.

Even as the Song started, even as her own eyes popped open to full wakefulness, Misato's voice cut through the Comms, "Kids, activate your Emergency Stimulant Packs!"

#

"Rei's Synch score just shot up, Seventy percent, Eighty, Ninety!"

"Relock her plug at point three!" Ritsuko said via commlink from Tokyo-3.

"Done!" Hyuga called as he fingers flew over the console.

"Her synch ratio has stopped, holding steady at Ninety one point three percent."

"We're here, Misato, We've activated the stims. Request Detox when we get out." Shinji said.

Misato's voice cut in the plugs of all four EVAs. "We'll have med teams on standby. Shinji, Rei, the Type 20s aren't effective. Try to shoot around it to corral it so the others can finish it off."

"Asuka, you charge it. Try for a bisect. I'll be two steps behind you." Mari said s her eyes popped back open. Asuka needed no urging and Unit-02 ran for the Angel.

She altered her grip, raising the sword above her EVA's head, then as the guard changed again, she let the blade start an arcing swing. Shinji winced as the sword continued it's arc, neatly sliced through the Angel's AT field and split the Angel in half, straight through it's head. The blade passed through, bisecting the Angel, and each half slumped over.

They didn't have time to congratulate themselves however. Within two seconds, the two halves shuddered, morphed, grew faces and cores, then attacked in synch. With the doubling of the Angel, so did the intensity of it's Song.

Rei narrowed her eyes, and the Other flared within her consciousness. She began to Sing, audibly, although she did not realize it. _**"I AM..."**_

##

"Pilot Synchrographs are normalizing, Unit Zero is transmitting a subsonic counter to the Angel's noise. Rei's ratio is creeping upwards now."

"Activate Secondary Synchronization restraints on Unit Zero." Ritsuko replied, "We need to keep her from achieving one to one ratio, or from going past it."

"What is Rei doing?" Misato wondered.

"You'll get an answer after we find it, Misato," Ritsuko replied, "For now, concentrate on getting those kids back here alive."

Being nearest, Unit-02 deflected the AT field blast aimed at her with the sword, then swung it again as Shinji's and Rei's EVAs peppered the Angel twins with additional fire from their positron rifles.

Unit-05's AT field absorbed the blast from her half of the Angel, and she stabbed out with the Glaive. It penetrated the core, splitting it, and she withdrew the Glaive to join her partner when she screamed in pain. Her half of the Angel had already regenerated and repaired it core, and it's next attack took Unit-05's right arm off just below the elbow.

"OW! Field up, sorry," Kensuke was sweating, but angled the AT field as Mari hopped backwards twice.

"Don't sweat it, Trainee. No one's perfect." Mari replied as she side-stepped an attack and then pivoted on her rear foot, thrusting her right leg out in a kick. It hit and the Angel half that she was fighting staggered backwards.

Then it countered with an AT field blast. Kensuke raised the field quickly enough, but the impact from it made Unit-05 stumble back.

Misato called, "Asuka, Mari, fall back to land. We need to even the odds a little. Shinji, Rei, arm yourselves with melee weapons and move forward to meet them."

"We'll provide cover fire," the JSSDF commander said, and he issued a command. A dozen VTOLs made strafing passes with autocannons and rockets as the ground armor popped out from behind the nearby ruined buildings, their turrets raining HEAT shells on the Angel as Asuka and Mari's EVAs backed away to regroup.

The Angel twins moved in tandem, attempting to flank the Red and Pink Evangelions and perform a pincer strike from the outside.

Two Type-20 Positron rifles hit the ground and both prototype EVAs drew their progressive knives, then dashed forward. However, the JSSDF forces shortly found themselves unable to fire upon the target as the two EVAs were again too close, and they risked hitting them. The JSSDF commander knew that the EVAs could handle it with ease, but it was a matter of principle – you don't shoot your allies.

The deep wounds Unit-02 was inflicting on her half of the Angel simply regenerated immediately, and she found herself forced backwards step by step. Asuka was simply amazed the jock was switching between Magorox and Defensive modes for the AT field as fast as he was, allowing Unit-02 to avoid all damage while dealing significant damage in return.

Rei and Shinji's EVAs rushed the half that had damaged Unit-05, and Shinji pushed more speed from his EVA as he said, "I'm going to get it's attention. Leap over me and pin it if you can so we can split the core."

"Confirmed."

"Negative, Shinji, join Asuka, try to kill it's core at the same time as Rei and Mari. I'm guessing both cores been to be destroyed at the same time or it will keep coming back at us." Misato called, "We're going to bring in the JSSDF forces to try to act as cover fire. Rei, support Mari."

They called affirmative and in only a few seconds they had closed to range.

Unit-01 veered off and leaped while kicking, sailing past Unit-02 and impacting the Angel, knocking it backwards hundreds of feet. Unit-01 rolled to it feet as the Angel stopped and got to it's own.

Unit-00 meanwhile sidestepped an AT field Blast and reverse spin-kicked it, staggering it as Unit-05 retrieved the Glaive and wielded it one-handed.

Unit-05 spun, using the Glaive as a bladed staff, swinging it and cutting the Angel in half across it's waist as Unit-00 back-flipped out of the way of the swing. It regenerated and Kensuke barely got the AT field up in time to absorb a blast.

Unit-01 deflected several rapid AT field blasts with his AT field. Unit-00 jabbed the Angel's face with a left hook, then twisted, bringing the Prog knife to bear, leaving a bloody diagonal slash downward across the Angel's torso. She then reversed the swing, slamming the knife into the core, splitting it again. Her AT field flared, driving lines of force through the Core, keeping it from regenerating as her half of the Angel slumped over.

Simultaneously, Unit-02 had leapt over Unit-01, bringing her sword down on the other half. She split it in half, and it's core with it.

Being destroyed almost simultaneously, both cores flashed white, and the three of the four EVAs were thrown backwards in the explosion before they could bring their AT fields up. The JSSDF forces, even as they attempted to attain minimum safe distance, witnessed two crucifix shaped explosions, and three huge figures bodily thrown backwards hundreds of feet, trailing smoke. They all landed and skidded backwards, leaving furrows of upturned earth.

Unit-00 stood alone, unharmed as it's AT field shimmered around itself. Rei then forced the Other back down, and began to walk her Evangelion back to shore.

A moment passed, and slowly, the scorched and damaged EVAs got to a stand. A raucous cheer flooded the Military comm channels, and back in Tokyo-Three, Fuyutsuki shook his head even as he smiled.

##

"Alright. Not a bad operation, but it could have been better." Fuyutsuki said as he met the children's eyes in turn. "At least we have some solid data, and we know the Angels are adapting to us. We need to adapt ourselves so the Angels are forced to react to us rather than we react to them."

"Yes sir."

"There's also a matter of teamwork. Only two of you are able to work as a synchronized team. We'll be assigning you quarters here for a couple of weeks and getting started on teamwork training regimens. We'll be moving you into quarters tonight."

"How long will the training last?" Asuka asked.

"Four hours per day, seven days per week. You still have school to worry about."

"So, how did it feel taking the fight to them rather than deploying quickly here?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It was a welcome change of pace, Sir," Shinji said to a chorus of nods from his fellow pilots.

The old man just smiled.

##

Doctor Akagi groaned as she surveyed the damage to the Evangelions. The pilots, after they had locked their EVAs onto the Rail transports, had been flown back separately and were debriefed.

The Angel was Singing, just like it's name implied. The only reason they were still here was because the part of Lilith's soul within Rei had responded with a counter-song. Misato knew Rei wasn't fully human. She didn't know that Lilith's Soul had been transferred to that of her daughter. It was a risk, placing Lilith within part of her own body, then having that body pilot a clone of Adam. But if Impact were to happen, all they needed to do was remove the limiters, and allow Rei to initiate it before an Angel could, or before SEELE could.

She had her data, and over a weeks' worth of repairs to the EVAs. She'd decided it wasn't strictly the children's fault. With the possible exception of Shinji and Rei, none of them knew how to fight as a team, a single unit.

She'd brought it up before the debrief and Misato and Fuyutsuki agreed. They were trying to come up with a training regimen that would give the pilots that kind of teamwork.

They'd been released to school, making it there in time for afternoon classes. It was likely that there'd be a study group going on in Misato's apartment after class. That's right, Gendo was in Geneva, wrangling a budget increase from the Comittee.

"_Guten Tag Doktor__ Akagi,_" she heard, and turned to see Kyoko Sohryu walking toward her on the catwalk.

"Doctor Sohryu. I take it you're here to make sure Asuka is settled in?"

"Yes, I arrived last night. I will be here for a week before I have to return to Berlin. Of course, I can extend my stay if needed."

"Excellent. Would you want the chance to look over the Evangelions and assist in repairs?"

"Gladly. I also wanted to meet with you to assist in the Core redesign. As you know, the SAVI protocol doesn't work with the prototype S2 Cores that the United States has provided."

Doctor Akagi smiled, then said, "The Maintenance Crews can replace the armor easily without supervision. Unit-05 needs it's arm reattached, and that requires my supervision. But I can easily spend time with you on R&D, especially since I've heard some very disturbing things about Branch 2's research into the S2 organ."

"Yes, I ordered a full deconstruction of the one Core we were given. I didn't like what I found. Shall we go to your office to discuss my findings?"

"By all means. This way."

##

"Drink?" Ritsuko asked as they walked into a small office. It was her private office, a haven of sorts against bad EVA days, pesky Misatos and of course, the almost daily ten rounds with Gendo Ikari.

"No, thank you."

"Then I think I'll forgo as well." Ritsuko replied, and then snapped her fingers in midair and opened a dataspace, "My terminal here hardlinked into the MAGI, and I installed a prototype hologrid. We can use the AR interface and access my Shadow drive."

She continued making gestures, shaping the dataspace into a flat plane and locking it to constantly hover at a specific location in front of her.

Kyoko quirked an eyebrow and sat down at the desk, logging in remotely to the Berlin MAGI. Risuko noticed and asked, "Are you not comfortable with the hologrid?"

"I know the basics. Pieter has one installed in his office, same as Commander Ikari." She secured the communication line, then linked the Terminal to the Hologrid and ran output on the visual to a massive dataspace along one wall. Finally, she pulled out a pair of reading glasses from a pocket of her lab jacket and put them on.

Files opened in rapid order, and Kyoko selected one, opening it and displaying technical schematics and atomic structures.

"Okay in review of what I found in the core we were sent from the United States, I found that the Double-Helix construction of the S2 Core interferes with the Helical SAVI data storage structures. In addition, we found elemental contamination in approximately one third of the core."

"I've begun some programming to adjust the SAVI protocol to a double-Helix. I've finally replicated the accident that produced Rei's micro S2 organ. I've got the synthesizer producing a full-size core using a modified accident model." Ritsuko replied.

"So, the girls are now stable?"

"Yes. Once I'm sure they are not rejecting the organ, and things have calmed down, I'll be taking them to live with me and enrolling them in school."

"They are like your daughters, aren't they?"

"They're intelligent, inquisitive, and deserve a real life. Once the Angel crisis is done and Third Impact averted, I'll be training someone to take over here and just try to be a mom to them."

"Good." the red-head said, smiling slightly.

"So, what was the elemental contamination?" Ritsuko asked.

"Composition of the same elements found in the Third Angel's Core and in the remnants of the Fifth's Core." she replied, glancing at Ritsuko over her glasses before looking back at the dataspace in front of her.

"So, it's like they tried to build new cores from the pieces of the Angel's cores and filled in the rest with a half-adapted standard Core model?" Ritsuko raised an eyebrow and looked over at her counterpart.

"Sums it up nicely, Doctor. Which unit is getting the test S2 Core that you are making now?"

"Unit Three or Four. I'll be pulling their cores and breaking them down for analysis. I shipped two SAVI cores to them, I doubt I'll get back standard SAVI Cores when Three and Four arrive."

Kyoko nodded and took off her glasses. "Quite wise, I would think. If they're intentionally corrupting cores, you may consider full teardown and inspection of both Evangelions to be prudent as well."

"We were already planning it." Ritsuko admitted.

"So, why not integrate the Test Core into Provisional Five?"

Ritsuko tapped a tab on a display, opening a subwindow. She dragged a file to the working space within the dataspoace, then sent it to Kyoko's display. "Provisional Five has been refit to Production Spec, except for a few legacy systems. We're going to use it as an interim unit for the two trainees. We've also converted a Test Body to Production spec. Once Three and Four pass their teardowns, they'll be relegated to testing platforms again."

"So, make it pass the teardown, integrate your S2 Core, begin low level stability testing?"

"Once it passes that, initiate high-level testing with the designated pilot, and start assembling more cores."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll let Pieter know what you're trying to do about the S2 program. I've no doubt he'll agree to support you however we can despite Chairman Keil's interference."

##

That night, after having moved most of their belongings into quarters within NERV HQ itself, the pilots retired to their assigned rooms to start on homework assignments or just relax.

Shinji sighed. Again. The fourth time by Asuka's count. She got up from her desk, where she paused the game on her computer. It was a popular game, despite it's blocky graphics, but it was perfect for mindless fun. She was still trying to make a 1:1 scale model of Berlin, and not really feeling motivated to continue. Not with a roommate that was frustrated.

She got up and walked up behind him, asking, "What's wrong, Shinji?"

"This!" he growled, gesturing at the math book that was open in front of him.

"Why are you having such a hard time with the homework? You are a college graduate aren't you?"

Shinji growled, "I can understand the science just fine. I just get hung up on the math. That's always my weakest point."

"But math's easy stuff!"

"Easy for you Ms. Genius! I'm not the one who aced everything and then some taking home top honors with a perfect grade average! I'm the one who barely got my Bachelor's degree. I knew I should have gone for an arts major, but no, Dad insisted I take a Science track. 'With the intelligence you inherited from both your mother and myself, you'll be a formidable scientist some day'."

Asuka cringed, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then shut it again as she turned and walked away in a huff and flopped down on her bed.

Shinji sighed. He knew he was intelligent. Just not in the ways everyone thought. Asuka had graduated her Masters already, and she was six months younger than he was. Then again, Germany's Academic system was operating under the Bologna Standard, while Japan's was not. He had what his one professor had called 'an innate understanding of the world and how it worked'. What it meant was long tedious hours of math studies to try to contort equations into doing what they should. Equations that usually came out wrong anyway.

So here he was again with his old enemies A2, B2 and C2, and still no idea as to the why, or even what practical application it might hold, even though he occasionally had the how down.

He reflected back as he sighed again. Asuka was trying to help him, but her personality kept getting in the way, as was the fact she expected everyone to have her level of intelligence. He supposed his attitude didn't help either.

She flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry Asuka."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm not as good at things as everyone thinks I am. I had to fight tooth and nail for every grade I got in University. Yeah, I'm having a much easier time of it in school, but I still have to fight the math. Doesn't help I'm going to be working on starting my Master's studies next year."

"I already have mine."

"Germany's Academic system works differently. The shortest average time between starting university courses to getting a Doctorate is eleven years in Japan. I managed my Bachelor's in the standard four years. The Masters is going to kick my ass, then I have to start on my Doctorate."

She was silent for a moment, then asked, "Would you want help?"

"If you wouldn't get too frustrated with me, I'd love to have help."

It was at that moment that Doctor Akagi chose to walk in.

"Good, the MAGI said you both were here. I get to be your chaperone until the apartments are remodeled. That means the middle bed is mine. If I am not here and you are, you will be under surveillance to prevent any 'incidents'. Misato will keep Makinami and Suzuhara in line, and Kaji will be overseeing Ayanami and Aida. Any questions?"

Both pilots looked at each other, expressions shocked and incredulous, then back at Doctor Akagi as they both blushed.

Her expression however, stopped any protests they may have had.

##

The next morning,

"Before we begin class, we have a visitor from NERV Headquarters. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki."

"Thank you, Ogawa-kun," the older man said with a bow. He straightened and with a small smile, said, "Well, it's been years since I stood in front of a class. Before Second Impact I was a University Professor in Kyoto. However, as nostalgic as this feeling is, I'm here for a different reason."

He looked over the class, and everyone had their attention focused on him.

"Very good. You are listening. I am here to extend an invitation to all of you. As you know, Ayanami and Ikari are pilots of the Evangelion platform, in addition, we chose two pilots from this class, and you have recently received two oversea transfers as well who are also pilots. Some of you have speculated that you might be candidates for piloting Evangelion. You are correct."

With the exception of the pilots, most of the students cheered, shouted, or stood up, causing Hikari to stand and shout, "QUIET! IN YOUR SEATS!"

Just as fast as they started, they sat down and stopped. She swept the class with a glare and continued, "If any of you act out again, you will receive detention."

"My apologies, Sub-Commander." she said with a bow, then sat down herself.

"I already know we'll be looking at you pretty closely, Horaki-san. You show able leadership. That's something that isn't taught." He bowed slightly in return to her, causing her to blush as he straightened, "You will be receiving a guided tour of the facilities, and watch each of the pilots in a variety of training activities, ranging from firearms practice and qualification, to melee combat training, to combat simulations. You will also watch a pilot Synchronize with their Evangelion and perform a Harmonics tests."

He paused for a second, "If all goes well, and we find ourselves with the time to, we may have a special treat for you all. However, there are qualifications. You will need to sign waivers, as will your parents, and you will not be allowed to bring anything electronic into headquarters. The reason I say this is part of your check-in will involved a high-powered magnetic field that will fry any electronic device, even wristwatches."

He paused, "The reason for that is we don't need anything classified being leaked to the Internet. You would mean well, but many of the things you will be shown are classified to even most governments and they would stop at nothing for information. This is part of the Waiver. After this tour, you will for one year's time, enjoy a certain amount of protection, in the form of a Security detail that will watch your homes, and your travels to ensure that you are not kidnapped or anything like that."

Silence ruled the room, as he paused, "The waiver also gives us permission to monitor your communications via Internet, text messages, and phone lines for one year. You understand that we have our secrets to keep. Many of them, in the wrong hands, could harm the world."

He smiled again, "If you are still willing, and your parents agree, after all of that, then you are in for a once in a lifetime experience."

##

"All right. Today's the big day. You all ready to visit the Geofront?"

The four clone girls nodded nervously at their 'Mommy'.

"Will Shinji and Rei be there?" Chiyoko asked.

"No. They're still in school. I know they would want to be here, but we don't know how stable any of you are yet, and I really don't want to wait, just in case." Ritsuko said softly.

They all nodded, and followed her out the door and down a hallway to an Elevator.

Having five people in the Elevator made it feel rather cramped, but they bore it well, being both eager and afraid.

It was explained to them that while the Geofront was huge, it was still an enclosed space. The actual surface was much larger than they could really imagine, no matter how many panoramic pictures they'd seen.

And so it was, after several minutes of Elevators and hallways, Ritsuko stopped in front of a heavy hatch, Access card in hand. She swiped the card and the hatch swing open. She stepped through and turned, her smile shadowed by the glare of light flooding in.

"Well, it's not the surface, but it's big enough."

##

"Man, I'm not going to be able to go. My parents won't let me." a girl said. Another pitched in, "Mine too. What about you, Hikari?"

Hikari sighed. "My Dad is in the Security Department of Section Two. I'd say it's a good chance I'm going."

"Lucky," someone grumbled.

Shinji rolled his eyes before speaking up, "Here's what I know. All of your parents work for NERV. That means your communications are probably monitored already. If your parents are department heads, then they have at least one security shadow. Just explain that, and if they have any concerns about the waiver, they can call Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki to ask questions."

"I don't like the idea of someone always watching me," a boy said.

Shinji nodded and asked, "I understand, but let me ask you another question. You know as a pilot I have a rather large security team following me at all times - a minimum of eight men. Also, right now this conversation's being recorded by no less than four cameras. Have you ever really noticed my team or the cameras?"

With the exception of Hikari, who sat quietly and listened, the class had to admit, they'd be hard pressed to see who exactly was part of Shinji's Security detail – or any of the other pilots for that matter. They also couldn't find any of the cameras Shinji had said were present.

Shinji smirk and answering reply of "That's how good they are," lay to rest most of the concerns of his class. Hikari at that point glanced back and sent him a knowing look.

##

The air that flooded across them was, for lack of a better term, fresh. A huge mixture of smells they had never experienced before, all bundled in a crisp, cool sensation that wafted past them.

Yuki was the first to step out of the hatch, and she stopped, her eyes growing as wide as saucers as she stepped back into Keiko. Keiko for her part, stared out past Yuki, drinking in the vast space as her eyes darted around. Izumi cowered on the floor away from the wide open space, her hands grasping the hatch frame in a deathgrip.

Chiyoko set her jaw and strode forward to meet her Mommy as the older woman had stepped away from the door. She stopped by the woman, her pale skin literally white as a sheet, then she turned around and looked back at her sisters.

"It's fine, see? We're not used to it, but this is normal for most people. We need to learn to make this feel normal for us," she said in a shaky voice.

Ritsuko smiled and placed a hand on Chiyoko's shoulder, and that reminder of her presence helped calm the girl. She looked around, keeping her face impassive, even as she stared at everything, exhilarated, and awed, despite the newness, the strangeness of seeing a new world.

She knew though, that this wasn't the surface. It was a microcosm ecosystem, that in many ways simulated the surface. A gentle breeze fanned Chiyoko's face as a distinct scent crossed her awareness. She started off up-breeze, toward the scent, which she could not identify except to say it was cheery.

Yuki was the next to step out into the open. She looked back and held out her hand toward the other two. Izumi released the hatch frame and got to her feet, stumbling forward, grasping Yuki's hand.

She ended up on one knee, looking at the ground as she stood again. Then, she forced herself to look around. She was clearly scared, shivering visibly as Yuki stepped forward. Yuki kept her vision low, and saw a shade tree, and made a straight line for it. Izumi went with her.

Keiko visibly gathered herself, then strode forward, much like Chiyoko had.

While Yuki and Izumi looked at everything from underneath the branches of an oak, Chiyoko had found a flower bed, and was in the process of smelling the flowers to see which had produced the scent that had drawn her.

Keiko looked up at a tree that had a low-lying branch, and walked toward it. She leaped for it, grabbed a hold of it, and almost lost grip. The roughness of the bark was a surprise to her. She tightened her grip, and began to pull herself up onto the branch. Then she stood, seeing another branch about waist-high from her current vantage point.

"Don't climb too high. Some of those branches won't hold your weight, Keiko."

"Yes, mommy."

Chiyoko pointed to one and said "This. It's what I smelled. Lavender, right?"

Ritsuko replied, "That's right."

"The surface is bigger than this right?" Izumi asked.

"Yes. This is a ten kilometer diameter circle. Right now we're only about a kilometer underground. The skylights there use mirrors to funnel light down along with lots of projection lamp systems. This gives us something approximating surface sunlight, minus the excess of UV currently present." Ristuko replied, pointing toward an aperture in the city blocks that light was streaming from.

Scientist warred with mother, but mother was slowly winning, as Risuko helped the girls explore a new and fascinating world.

##

That evening,

Fighting jetlag, and amped on several cups of coffee, Gendo sat back in his chair in his office, lights on so as to be less intimidating. Gloves and sunglasses were in his jacket, instead he was wearing a really old pair of black framed glasses.

The other people in the room were the parents of the two new pilots, and both Kaji and Misato.

"I want to thank you for coming to this meeting. As you know, your sons have been chosen to be Evangelion pilots. This brings up an interesting dilemma."

Mrs. Suzuhara looked at her husband, then asked, "What dilemma is that?"

"The parents of the original four pilots have had guardianship of their children switched to a trusted subordinate. In the case of Shinji and Rei, it was Major Katsuragi. While Lieutenant Dragunov has not transferred from Bethany, Agent Kaji has transferred from Berlin with pilot Sohryu. This means we have both a male and female guardian for the children here in Tokyo-Three."

"What does that have to do with us?" Mr. Aida questioned.

"I am asking that you sign legal Guardianship over to Agent Kaji and Major Katsuragi. This will allow us to barrack the pilots together, increasing pilot security and deployment speed. I want you to note is not mandatory, but during Angel attacks, every second can count."

"So, you'll own our son?" Mr. Suzuhara said with considerable venom as his wife patted his arm.

"No. We're not trying to take your children away from you, not permanently, but it makes for faster deployment, easier training arrangements, and better security for the pilots if all the pilots are living in a central location. It is only due to certain legal stipulations that I'm even asking you to sign guardianship of your sons over to Agent Kaji and Major Katsuragi. If you do not sign, then that is fine, but we will have to spend the necessary money to ensure the pilot's security, and to construct nearby local access points for their personal use."

"That would be how much in cost?" Mr. Suzuhara replied.

"To us, the pilots are worth more than the Evangelions. Money... is no object where they are concerned."

"Well, we already work for NERV, under your command, although in different departments. I'm just concerned. All the pilots, male and female are barracked together?" Mr. Aida asked.

"Not quite," Kaji spoke up.

The parents looked at him and he said, "The female pilots are going to be living with Major Katsuragi. The apartment next door to hers is being converted to a common area for training and recreation. The male pilots would be barracked with me on the other side of the common apartment. In addition, the common area will always have surveillance cameras from the local Section Two staff."

Misato said, "In addition, any visits to the other gender's dorm approved by that dorm's guardian, and the visitor must be supervised by one guardian or the other. Due to the heavy Section Two presence, unapproved visitors to either side will be returned to their own dorm, and both guardians and the parents of the offender will be notified. The parents will decide what punishment would be appropriate."

"That seems quite reasonable."

"The apartment complex itself, as does the School, have private Geofront Access points within a few hundred feet of them. The pilots have security clearance to access them and have priority access to the Geofront terminal hub. They can be to headquarters within five minutes of an alert sounding from school or the apartment."

"What about you two?" Mr. Suzuhara asked.

"I won't deny it. There's a history between us," Kaji said. "Good and bad. Point is, we know each other very well, and we'll be keeping an eye on all the kids. We were kids once ourselves you know."

"How often will we be allowed to see them?"

"As often as you can now. In fact we invite you to continue playing an active role in their lives. Once the Angel crisis is over, We will be changing our research focus anyway, and your sons will be signed back to you, although their status as pilots will not change. In fact, your sons will be permanently assigned to specific Evangelions, and where that EVA goes, they will. Until they reach legal age, you will also be assigned wherever they are stationed. At present, it will likely be the United States. One in Massachusetts, one in Nevada."

"I take it Units One and Two stay here?"

Gendo looked at Mr. Suzuhara, "You're a technician, Suzuhara-san. You've seen how much lower maintenance Units Two and Five have been compared to Zero and One. They must stay here regardless of what comes. Two will go back to Berlin, and Five back to Bethany. Three and Four are from branch Two and will return there once this is over."

##

You may have noticed a complete lack of Synch training in this chapter. This is intentional. Firstly, the episode takes place over a week in time. This story spans three days at most. Secondly, the training here is much more relaxed, and wedged in alongside School, instead of replacing it as in canon. Plus, you have to ask yourself, if they're starting slow, then it may be training as simple as trying to make all the pilots simply march in perfect lockstep for the first few days until they can work out synchronized dance routines, three legged races or whatever. Depending on how the next chapter goes, I may touch on some of the synch training.

The cast is fully assembled, save one. Now, the story really begins. And you'll see it diverge and take a new path, although it'll pretty closely follow the series timeline. That's a bit of a problem with EVA, especially if you follow the series timeline. However, most of the backstory has been told. You see some of the changes in the characters. I'm even allowing a glimpse into the future, as warped as it may be.

I was really unhappy with this chapter. What's to write about when the Angel goes down in the first quarter of the story? So, it's try to hash out some of the daily stuff happening in Tokyo-Three, except when my own life likes interfering.

Having six pilots while having only four operational EVAs isn't something I explained, but the logic is simple. The purpose was to train pilots for EVAs 3 and 4 so that when they are ready, there won't be any issues bringing pilots up to speed. This is an issue I have with the original series, although I know it's a deconstruction of the super robot genre.

'We have a giant robot, let's shove some untrained kid in it and hope he saves our asses instead of oh, you know, maybe TRAINING someone for years so they won't be tripping over their own feet their first battle.' So, I'm letting a little common sense rule. Notice I said little.

The dual synch exercises are because the production models starting with Unit-02 were fitted with the Sohryu-Akagi Virtual Intelligence Core, and they're flexible enough to allow anyone to synch, even two people at a time. At one point, Rei's Core and Yui Core were removed and SAVI cores installed into Units 00 and 01. The fact the SAVI cores were removed from Units 00 and 01 was a subtle bit of Gendo manipulation, not having certain materials available for core manufacture at a critical time to make sure the original cores were reinstalled shortly after Sachiel.

Asuka is trained in one of the Germanic sword-fighting styles. Make sense, right? More information about how she may have been trained can be found online at the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts website. They have thousands of people in their ranks all studying Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts, everything from grappling and wrestling to swordsmanship to fencing.

Keep in mind this is a real school, utilizing modern translations of the ancient training manuscripts that have survived, not LARP foam sword swinging, or fantasy swordplay which is laughable at best.

For Japanese martial weapon styles, I have a friend who's studied Kendo. His help has been invaluable. He and I, as soon as we get enough Wasters/Bokken for both styles, will be crosstraining with each other, much like Asuka and Rei will be in the future. The more you know, the more adaptable you'll be. Who knows, if I get mine in time, it may bleed into the story.

ARCTIS is an acronym for 'Augmented Reality Combat Targeting Information System'. I made mention of the Comm-Con battle network in an earlier chapter, and this is part of it. I've basically taken the canon Targeting/Information systems, and mixed them with a few concepts I'd played with from an original SF work I've been slowly making progress on. The Four EVAs, each having a massive amount of processing, are networked together and share targeting data. This isn't counting the Command Van or MAGI.

Tags on the HUD show what the others have targeted, and movement in m/s or km/s of all allies and hostiles. In the case of ranged combat, it interfaces with the weapons and provides a Line of sight corridor showing the path of the next attack. They're still working out some glitches in the system, but it works well enough for them.


End file.
